Motorcycle fundraiser to benefit Gabriel Sibilia Motorcycle run benefits a different local child each year BY KATHY CHANG Staff Writer SCOTT PILLING staff Fifteen-month-old Gabriel Sibilia smiles as his grandmother, Barbara Pulaski, gives him some love and attention during the swimathon and bake sale fundraiser held at the Woodbridge Community Center. All proceeds go toward helping Gabriel, who has autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease. WOODBRIDGE - Karen Perricone didn't have to think twice when choosing who to sponsor for the ninth annual John Perricone Memorial Dollars for Danielle Motorcycle Run this June. "We were starting to look who to sponsor [in January] and then we heard about Gabriel," said Karen, who has kept her promise to her brother John to continue to hold the motorcycle run. The motorcycle run, which will be held June 3 at Merrill Park in Iselin, will sponsor 15-month-old Gabriel Sibilia, who was diagnosed with autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease [ARPKD] in October. Autosomal recessive PKD is the most common heritable cystic renal disease occurring in infancy and childhood. A particular genetic flaw causes the disease. The 60-mile motorcycle ride runs from Merrill Park in Iselin through Hunterdon County and ends up at the park again for an afternoon picnic. "The picnic is $20 per person and it is all-you-can-eat all day long, along with raffles and prizes," said Karen. Perricone's brother John, who owned a mechanic shop in Colonia, began the fundraising event in 1999 as a way to help a young township resident. "It was for Danielle Draina, a little girl who had leukemia and is the daughter of a Woodbridge police officer," said Karen. "Danielle was only about 2 years old, or a little younger, and the medical costs at that point were very high. My brother wanted to help, and we came up with the motorcycle run and the picnic." At the same time, Karen got injured in a serious motorcycle accident and spent the following six months in the hospital recovering. "My brother John said they would get me riding again," she said. She added John's name to the event after he died from cancer shortly after being diagnosed in 2000. "He died five months later at the age of 39," she said. "It was very horrible. But he would say, 'Karen, you have to continue this if something happens to me, it's a very good cause.' I told John that we would do it, and we lead off every run with his bike each year." Danielle is an 11-year-old healthy girl who has been in remission for many years, said Karen. "She doesn't need the money anymore, so we have been sponsoring a new child every year," she said. "We wanted to continue to help young children, but we left Danielle's name since it got known with that." Dollars for Danielle sponsored 12-year-old Colonia resident Amanda Marchetti, who has a brain disorder, last year; and 11-year-old Port Reading resident Elias Stevens, who had bone cancer, the previous year. Elias passed away in June 2005. A fund has been established for Gabriel at: Woodbridge YMCA Friends of Gabriel Sibilia, 600 Main St., Woodbridge 07095. The Woodbridge YMCA held a swimathon and bake sale on Feb. 13 for Gabriel, which did very well. The swimathon raised $1,900, the bake sale raised $1,600, and the Colonia Branch YMCA bake sale raised $1,100 for Gabriel. For more information, contact Lifetime for Gabriel, sponsored by Sandy Mercer at About Faces Hair Salon in Edison, at (732) 549-0797; Rita Fisher at (732) 548-9349; or Sherrill Rudy at the Woodbridge YMCA at (732) 596-4180. The Kids In Production theater program, a nonprofit corporation that empowers children to truly make a difference in their community, will host their fourth annual Pasta Dinner and Bazaar for Gabriel 4-8 p.m. March 10 at St. Matthew's Church in Edison. Donations are $10 for adults and $5 for children.