Tara Miller formed the Tara Miller Melanoma Foundation after she was diagnosed with the disease. She died a year later, but her legacy lives on. To date, the organization has raised more than $3 million for melanoma research.
Public can vote during a one-week period starting Monday, Oct. 21
LONGPORT – The Tara Miller Melanoma Foundation is one of three New Jersey non-profit organizations in the running for a share of $65,000 in funding from NRG’s crowdsourced charitable giving program, NRG Gives.
NRG Gives first launched in 2016 to support non-profits that “fly under the radar” but do great work, according to public relations official Dave Schrader. Only New Jersey non-profits are eligible for the award this year. NRG employees selected the nonprofit finalists, including Camp Fatima of NJ, Hopeworks Camden and Tara Miller Melanoma Foundation, but a public voting system will determine how much each charity receives.
Past winners include MANNA, The Seeing Eye, Little Smiles, Red Paw and Nemours/A.I. duPont Hospital for Children.
The public will have the opportunity to cast their ballots during a week-long voting period that begins 9 a.m. Monday, Oct. 21 and ends 11:59 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 27. The donation each charity receives will be determined by the percentage of total votes received, so every vote counts, Schrader said.
Based in Harrison, Camp Fatima of NJ is an all-volunteer organization dedicated to providing no cost recreational programming to individuals with developmental disabilities from school age through adulthood. Camp Fatima is also dedicated to providing respite to caregivers by delivering safe, nurturing and high quality programming to the campers.
Hopeworks Camden focuses on education, technology and entrepreneurship to help young people build strong futures and break the cycle of violence and poverty in Camden. Hopeworks connects youth to life changing opportunities in social enterprises and enterprising businesses in the community. The real world, on-the-job experiences they gain, raises their potential and benefits Hopeworks’ partners.
The Tara Miller Melanoma Foundation of Longport raises money to support the research of effective treatment methods and ultimately a cure for melanoma. Tara Miller founded the Foundation in 2014 after being diagnosed with melanoma at age 28, losing her battle at 29 years old. Since 2014, the foundation has funded more than $3.4 million to melanoma research with 100% of all money raised going directly to research.
NRG Energy, a Fortune 500 company that generates electricity and provides energy solutions and natural gas to more than 3.7 million residential, small business and commercial and industrial customers, employs more than 500 people at its corporate headquarters in Princeton.
To vote for a charity, visit picknrg.com/nrggives. You can vote once per day, per mobile phone number. Results will be announced on Oct. 29.
For more information, see www.nrg.com, or connect with NRG on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter @nrgenergy, @nrginsight.
