‘Totes of Hope’ Touch Young Hearts at BioNJ Gives Back Event

By Anthony Birritteri, Editor-in-Chief On Dec 11, 2025

Some 200 employees from many of the state’s life sciences companies gathered yesterday at Insmed and Sanofi corporate headquarters in Bridgewater and Morristown, respectively, to fill “Totes of Hope: Hospital Care Kits.”

The tote bags, each filled with a box of crayons, a coloring book, playing cards, a blanket, ginger candy and nonslip socks, to name a few items, will soon make their way to pediatric cancer patients at the Jack & Sheryl Morris Cancer Center in New Brunswick.

These workers took part in the second annual “BioNJ Gives Back” event which, according to BioNJ President and CEO Debbie Hart, “Celebrates the power of community and compassion where employees give from the heart.”

Besides the items mentioned, each tote bag also contained a personal message of hope from each person who decorated and filled a gift bag.

“I can tell you, when our patients receive these gifts, their faces light up. It means so much to them, especially when they’re in a hospital and going through cancer treatment,” said Kathleen Arcidiacono, DNP, RN, OCN, vice president of nursing at the Jack & Sheryl Morris Cancer Center, which is affiliated with RWJBarnabas Health and the Rutgers Cancer Institute.

“These events are emotional deposits not only for the patients, but for the participants here today who are helping restore dignity to our patients; giving them hope. … It puts a smile on [patients’] faces and makes a difference in their day, which could be very long,” added Rodger Van Allen, principal gifts officer of the RWJ University Hospital Foundation.

Attending his second BioNJ Gives Back event, Assemblyman Roy Freiman (D-16), who serves as deputy majority leader and chair of the Assembly Financial Institutions and Insurance (AFI) committee, said the events are “inspiring.”

“[These people] all work from an intellectual and commercial standpoint to save lives, but to sit down and work on an emotional level is a way of connecting in a different way,” he said. “This is an extra way of touching patients in their hearts.”

BioNJ Gives Back was the brainchild of Insmed Chair and CEO William Lewis, who at BioNJ’s Annual Dinner Meeting & Innovation Celebration two years ago, delivered a call to action for the biotech industry to set aside a community day and give back to the community through volunteering.

Nicole Schaeffer, chief people strategy officer at Insmed and longtime BioNJ volunteer, said that Lewis suggested the company conduct these types of philanthropic events on a global scale. “At Insmed, we host a day like this every year where our employees around the globe participate and give back in a variety of ways,” Schaeffer said.

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