W hat began as eight friends,
a football and a card table
at an average tailgate
quickly transformed into a full-fledged charity as
a group of friends in Section 16H of the Meadowlands
parking lot in 2003 decided they could
turn their pre-game into working for a cause.
Thus, the Section 16H Group was founded.
While the venue may have changed now that
the N.Y. Giants play at MetLife Stadium, the tailgate
continues, and each year, the party grows
and a new charity to donate to is chosen. This
year, the event, which will happen Sept. 30 at 1
p.m., will benefit Custodes Libertatis Memorial
Foundation.
The group itself is described as friends from
industry, college and life-long friends that rallied
behind causes. With its founders coming from all
different industries, the men were able to build a
network that grew their party from eight to 800-
900 attendees. While their own tailgate has been
going since 2003, it was in 2005 that they decided
they could do more. It was in that year that member
Dr. Brian Wraith’s uncle passed from brain
cancer. The members raised a small amount of
money and gave the donations to Wraith’s uncle’s
widow.
From there, they decided they wanted to make
more of a difference. Wraith and the other
founders were able to get a non-for-profit status
after creating their company, and then filed to be
a public status. Section 16H Group is now a
501(c)(3) charity that helps to support different
charities each year. The key to it all, agreed members
Wraith, Dr. Mark Goldstein and celebrity
chef Josh Capon, is their bond to each other.
“I really think the friendships we have can’t
be minimized when we talk about the charities
because the friendships drove the charity and now
the charity drives our friendship in that it’s very
easy to stay close to someone you have respect
for when you work shoulder-to-shoulder with