Community Corner

Boy, 13, Raises $1,800 for Brain Cancer Research with Homemade Sticker

George Weiner designed and sold a hockey helmet sticker in memory of his uncle who died of a brain tumor in November.

George Weiner is trying to help find a cure for brain cancer.

The 13-year-old Wayne resident has raised more than $1,800 he’s donating to aid in brain cancer research. Weiner’s uncle Michael, the former executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, died from a brain tumor in November just five days after Weiner’s Bar Mitzvah. He was 51.

Weiner created and sold stickers for hockey helmets with “Join the fight against brain cancer” on them. He started the initiative for his community service project for his Bar Mitzvah. The stickers cost $1 each.

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“I thought I would sell a decent amount but I never thought I would make this much money,” Weiner said.

Weiner plays hockey for the New Jersey Hitmen, a traveling youth hockey team. He has played in various tournaments with the club across the United States.

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Weiner’s father David was at the Bauer World Invitation Tournament in Chicago with George.

“I was watching him and his friend selling the stickers to people and they really responded to what he was doing,” David Weiner said. “I think people saw the sincerity and the genuine feeling that he really cared about what he was doing.”

Ronni Weiner, George’s mother, said that Michael would have been proud of what George is doing.

“He was a public figure and very open about his tumor,” Ronni Weiner said. “George and Michael had a very special relationship.”

Weiner will donate the $1,800 and $1,000 from his bar mitzvah gifts to Voices Against Brain Cancer, a non-profit dedicated to helping find a cure for brain cancer and brain tumors by advancing research and helping patients and their families.

“The fact that he came up with this on his own and that he is so passionate about it has made us very proud,” said David Weiner, George’s father. “He has always displayed a sense of caring for others.”

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