Victory Worldwide Transportation helps ensure ‘Victory’ for Komen North Jersey Race for the Cure

MyCentralJersey.com
Submitted by Susan G. Komen
North Jersey Affiliate 3 p.m. EDT May 26, 2014

 

Victory has been a dedicated Komen North Jersey partner, providing transportation and labor for all equipment, materials and setup

JAMESBURG – Anyone who has ever been involved will tell you that it’s no small task to present a Komen Race for the Cure — the tents, the equipment, the race courses, the booths, the amenities, the stage, all the equipment — not to mention the complicated logistics.

That’s when a company like Victory Worldwide Transportation becomes not only a valued partner but an essential one. For the last three years, Victory has been a dedicated Komen North Jersey partner, providing transportation and labor for all equipment, materials and set-up. But this year, with the help and support of Executive Vice President John Underfer (who was also co-chairman of the race), Victory took on a bigger role.

As a Platinum Sponsor of this year’s Race on Sunday, May 4, at the Essex County South Mountain Recreation Complex in West Orange, Victory took it all on. The company handled all logistics necessary to ensure that everything would be in place for Race Day (and throughout the day), including distribution, transportation, storage, receiving and delivery of goods for all Race Sponsors, load in and load out of all equipment and materials, and normal production setup and breakdown. A huge undertaking, for sure, but accomplished with incredible ease and efficiency under the watchful eye of Underfer.

This year’s race was indeed a victory, in fact, with 5,000 people on-site and a fundraising effort that has the affiliate very close to its $1 million goal (fundraising ends June 30).

“Victory Worldwide Transportation is honored to support Susan G. Komen North Jersey and their Race for the Cure,” says Underfer. “The affiliate does great work in the same nine North Jersey counties that Victory serves, and the impact that they have in our community allows us to easily justify donating our expertise and resources for this wonderful and important cause. And we will continue this support well into the future until breast cancer is a thing of the past.”

Underfer said that he hoped the race would help increase awareness about breast cancer and the importance of early detection. His mother lost her battle to the disease in 1999 at the age of 58, and since then, Underfer says, he has been doing whatever he can “to support the cause, in her memory, and as her legacy.” Underfer emphasizes that he is very fortunate to have the full support of Victory’s owner, the honorable James S. Simpson (the former commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Transportation) and wife Trudy, who have been tremendous supporters of his efforts on behalf of Komen North Jersey and the fight against breast cancer.

As this year’s race co-chairman, Underfer was responsible for organizing, and then overseeing all logistics, as well as other day-of-race roles: He appeared on stage to present the awards to the six medalists in the 5K Run, and also drove the Ford Mustang Pace Car for both the 5K Run and the 5K Walk. Underfer has been the “Official Pace Car Driver” for six consecutive Komen North Jersey Races, at the request of the Ford Motor Company (Komen Race for the Cure National Series Sponsor). Ford’s confidence in him is such that their instructions stated that “no one else is permitted to drive the car.”

“We are deeply indebted to Victory Worldwide Transportation, and especially, to John Underfer, for their enormous generosity and support,” says Jennifer Griola, executive director of Komen North Jersey. “We would not be able to pull off our race day without them — their incredible commitment is a shining example of how one company with a vision can make a difference, can make a real impact, in the fight against breast cancer.”

About Susan G. Komen North Jersey
Through their annual Race for the Cure and other initiatives throughout the year, Susan G. Komen North Jersey raises funds that support life-saving breast cancer screening, breast health/breast cancer education, treatment support, and survivorship programs to underserved women and men in the Affiliate’s 9-county service region (Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union and Warren counties). Since its founding in 1997, Komen North Jersey has awarded over $16 million in local community grants, and has directed more than $7 million to the national research programs aimed at finding new and better treatment options and, ultimately, the causes and cures to eradicate breast cancer forever. For additional information, visit www.KomenNorthJersey.org, or call 908-277-2904.

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