Hamilton Township Mayor Kelly Yaede will donate proceeds from her 2016 annual ball on April 30 to The First Day of School Foundation in honor of Eli Waller.
HAMILTON -- Hamilton Township Mayor Kelly Yaede announced she will donate proceeds from her 2016 annual ball on Saturday to a nonprofit that supports special needs students.
The First Day of School Foundation was created in memory of 4-year-old Eli Waller - a student and one of a set of triplets at Yardville Elementary with speech and learning disabilities.
Eli Waller, file photo (Photos courtesy of Andy Waller) Eli was one of 14 children in the state to contract enterovirus-68 in 2014, but the only to die from it.
"Following a tragedy felt by our entire community, the Waller family illustrated courage and grace in honoring the memory of their son by working to support special needs children and their families," Mayor Yaede said. "I am honored to help support their worthy cause by supporting the First Day of School Foundation through this year's Mayor's Ball."
In October of 2014, Eli's parents Andrew and Suzanne Waller created the foundation which has provided financial assistance to school-related and therapeutic expenses for special education students.
"Like so many kids his age, Eli was both nervous and excited about starting school, and it is our sincere hope that this foundation can work to help kids in a way that we were all so proud of him," Andrew Waller said in an interview with the Times in October 2014.
On the evening of Sept. 24, 2014, Andrew Waller tucked his 4-year-old son into bed.
Eli was excited to wake up to go to school the next day, since he'd been out of class on Sept. 24. His sister had pink-eye and Waller and his wife were fearful Eli would get it as well and spread it to his classmates, according to previous reports.
But Eli never woke up. Doctors determined Eli stopped breathing in the middle of the night after contracting enterovirus-68.
"You find yourself at a spot when something like this happens that you have to make a choice," Waller said in 2014. "The choice is: Are you just going to sit, languish and be sad for the rest of your life? Or are you going to make something good happen? It's obvious to me."
Since its founding, the nonprofit has donated $10,000 to both the Hamilton and Freehold districts' special education Departments, as well as contributing $5,000 to the Trenton Special Parent Advocacy Group.
Mayor Yaede's Ball will be held on Sat. April 30 at the Stone Terrace on Kuser Road.
Lindsay Rittenhouse may be reached at lrittenhouse@njadvancemedia.com. Find NJ.com on Facebook.