Just after losing their father to his battle with stomach cancer in 1992, Marian Munizza told her sons to go out and play a round of golf, knowing how much they enjoyed the sport and the small relief it might bring during their grieving. On the course that day, the Munizza brothers got to talking, and the idea for the Joseph L. Munizza Sr. Golf Tournament was born.
That next year, they would host family and some friends for a small tournament followed by a big lasagna dinner made with love by Marian. It was such a hit that they began plans to expand. For years the event grew and grew but a few things stayed the same. The cost to participate would stay low so anyone who wanted to could afford to play, it would honor the memory of their beloved father, and the money would go to Fox Chase research so future patients could have more treatment options.
As the brothers have gotten older, they've scaled back the event's size but given it even greater meaning. In 2000, their mother lost her second battle with lung cancer. The boys knew how much the event meant to her and that, no matter how big or small, they had to keep holding it, honoring the love of both of their parents and continuing the camaraderie the outing brought out in everyone.
Bill, one of the Munizza brothers and the current event manager, hopes to hand the event down to his nephew to keep the meaningful reunion and fundraiser going and had some important advice for him and anyone else thinking of starting a fundraiser. "Do it for the right reasons, don’t worry about how much money you raise, because it will come! If it’s twenty dollars or 2,000—if your efforts have meaning behind them, that’s what matters.”