Annual garage sale supports Cedar Grove cancer survivor's cause

After spring cleaning, many people bring their unwanted clutter to Cedar Grove’s Sharon Slosarik.

They bring it to her for an annual yard sale on Fairview Avenue. Slosarik uses the funds for a cause near and dear to her: raising money for breast cancer research.

Slosarik, 49, was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 34. After undergoing chemotherapy and treatment, she started to volunteer for the Susan G. Komen organization and raised funds any way she could.

“I kind of wanted a way to take my life back after everything I’ve been through with the treatments,” observed Slosarik, a Cedar Grove resident for around 13 years.

One of the ways she contributed was through the Susan G. Komen 3-Day, a three-day, 60-mile walk. Teams needed to raise $2,300 to participate, so Slosarik started her “Sale for the Cure.” This year’s walk is scheduled for August in Philadelphia. 

The sale started three years ago, and each time Slosarik said they raise between $1,000 to $1,800. This year’s sale, held in mid-June, raised $1,000.

“Every year, people in the community … they literally put bags aside for us,” she said of stocking the garage sale.

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Her husband, John, is also a “neat freak,” so cleaning out the house comes naturally to the family, she noted.

All of the proceeds from the Cedar Grove sale go toward the Susan G. Komen organization, which Slosarik said was a constant source of support for her during her treatment.

When Slosarik takes part in the August walk it will coincide with her 50th birthday. At one point during her treatment for stage-four cancer, she was told she was unlikely to reach 43. 

“It may be in my body but it’s certainly not in my heart, or my soul or my mind,” she said of her cancer diagnosis. “It will always be a part of me. It will never define me.”

Slosarik’s team, named Friends with Heart, has grown through the years to around 60 members. Participants come from across the United States as well as England and Canada to make it an international effort, according to Slosarik. 

Her 19-year-old daughter Jennifer, along with her friends Katie Jansen and Dalton Snider-Smith, are also part of the team.

An English teacher at the Passaic Gifted and Talented Academy, Slosarik is part of the fourth generation in her family to be diagnosed with breast cancer. She is in remission currently but said she knows her condition is not fully curable. Through the whole process, Slosarik said she only cried twice. Once came when she lost her hair, and the other when her young daughter realized that her mother’s condition could cut her life short. 

However, Slosarik promoted the importance of staying positive and letting others know they do not have to be afraid.

“I have this personal theory,” she observed, “that heaven doesn’t want me and hell is afraid I’m going to take over, so this world is kind of stuck with me.”

To donate to Slosarik’s cause for the August walk, visit the3day.org and search for her name or team on the “Donate” page.

Email: jongsma@northjersey.com