Manalapan-Based Charity Hosting $1M Ball Drop For Fatal Disease

MANALAPAN, NJ — There will be no clubs involved at this golf competition. A thousand golf balls will be released from a helicopter over a hole and the participant who lands the closest or in it will win $250,000.

The event, dubbed $1,000,000 Golf Ball Drop, is being organized by JAR of Hope on Sept. 13. The non-profit based out of Manalapan works to fund research about Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a very rare and relatively unknown but always-fatal disease that affects about 1 in every 3,500 live births.

“Because of COVID-19, charitable foundations haven’t been able to hold traditional fund-raising events,” said Jim Raffone, JAR Of Hope Founder and CEO. “So we have to be extra creative in holding outdoor events that will engage and excite people.”

The $1,000,000 Golf Ball Drop will be held at Bella Vista Country Club, in Marlboro. Each ball will cost $1,000 and only 1,000 will be sold.

To find more information about the event visit this page.

Jar of Hope was founded by Manalapan residents Jim and Karen Raffone, whose son, James Anthony, was diagnosed with Duchenne.

“We picked Sept. 13 for this event because that’s the day in 2013 that our son was diagnosed with Duchenne,” Jim Raffone also said.

James Anthony is now 12-years-old, nearing the age when kids with Duchenne start losing the ability to walk.