Mark S. Steinberg is fighting a very rare form of cancer and the Verona P.B.A. is hoping the community can help him.
Steinberg, a deputy emergency management coordinator for the Township of Verona and a Verona Rescue Squad volunteer who has answered more than 1,000 calls, has been diagnosed with Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumors (DSRCT), an extremely rare sarcoma. For his treatment, the 23-year-old Essex County Sheriff’s Officer and soon-to-be-sworn Verona police officer will need to visit numerous oncologists at different hospitals across New Jersey and New York, and maybe beyond. Steinberg’s treatment is expected to take more than a year, during which time unanticipated expenses relating to his medical care will not be fully covered by insurance.
To cover those costs, the P.B.A. has set up a GoFundMe page seeking $50,000. “We hope to lessen Mark’s burden and allow him and his family to concentrate their energies on what is most important,” the P.B.A. wrote on the fundraising page, “staying positive and conquering his cancer so he can return to a normal sense of life and continue to serve the communities that he loves and ultimately survive to live a happy life with his family, friends, and girlfriend.”
The fundraising is supported by the Essex County Sheriff’s Office P.B.A. Local 183, Verona Police P.B.A. Local 72, Essex County P.B.A. Conference, and the Verona Rescue Squad.
“Mark’s kindness, care, compassion, thoughtfulness, and superb emergency medical skills are all hallmarks of his tireless devotion to helping others,” the P.B.A. wrote. “In every way, Mark embodies the idea of ‘service before self’.”
