Margaritas. Mahjong tiles. And somewhere between the tacos and the first winning hand of the night, something quietly remarkable happened.
What looked from the outside like the most fun Tuesday in Upper Saddle River’s recent memory turned out to be something far more intentional: a room full of neighbors who showed up to play a game and stayed to help change a child’s story.
Cinco de Mahjong was exactly what it promised: festive, lively and filled with the kind of laughter that comes when people are genuinely glad to be together. But beneath the clatter of tiles inside the Upper Saddle River Fire Department was a mission that gave the evening its real purpose.
On a Tuesday evening in May, nearly 100 members of the local community came together and proved a point that needed no rulebook. When people gather with purpose, even a fun night out can build something that lasts.
The event was hosted in support of Comfort Cases, and by the time the last tile was set down, the community had delivered. Sixty backpacks were packed, filled and destined for CASA of Passaic and Union Counties in Wayne, ready to remind a child that someone is thinking of them.
The Mission Behind the Mahjong
For many children experiencing foster care in the United States, the reality is heartbreaking. Children enter the system every day, and many leave their homes carrying their belongings in nothing more than a trash bag.
It is a reality that Comfort Cases founder Rob Scheer has made it his life’s work to change.
A Navy veteran, CNN Hero and father of five children adopted through foster care, Scheer lived this trauma himself. Today, he leads a national movement chronicled in A Forever Family, published by Simon & Schuster and Derek Jeter Publishing.
Comfort Cases replaces that silent symbol of neglect with something far better: a sturdy backpack filled with brand-new pajamas, a blanket, books, hygiene essentials, a stuffed animal and a personal note of encouragement written by the person who packed it.
These are not simply backpacks. They are a child’s first reminder, during what may be one of the most disorienting moments of their life, that someone cared enough to think about what they carry.
The 60 backpacks packed at Cinco de Mahjong were delivered directly to CASA of Passaic and Union Counties in Wayne, a program dedicated to advocating for children experiencing foster care who need a consistent and caring voice in their corner.
For those children, a Comfort Case backpack and a CASA advocate arriving at the same moment is no coincidence. It is a community deciding, in two very different but equally meaningful ways, that no child should feel invisible.
Bergen County Women Don’t Just Play the Game. They Change It.
If mahjong has quietly become the “new golf” for female entrepreneurs and executives, a social game that creates connection and community, Bergen County women are proving they play for keeps.
What made Cinco de Mahjong work was not just the mission. It was the network already in place: a community of women who have spent years building relationships, leading organizations and showing up for one another without waiting to be asked.
When Upper Saddle River resident Aimee Berger extended the invitation, they did not simply RSVP. They rolled up their sleeves.
Leslie Labell, a professional mahjong coach who runs her own network, LBI BeachBams, and teaches workshops through The Tile Society, stepped in as co-chair and volunteered her time to coach first-time players at the event.
She also recruited fellow coaches because she understood that for an event like this to succeed, the room had to welcome both seasoned players and curious newcomers who did not know a Pung from a Joker.
She made sure no one felt left at the wall.
Leslie Lahoud, president of the Upper Saddle River Valley Junior Women’s Club, a nonprofit civic organization, helped connect Berger to the Upper Saddle River Fire Department, which generously offered to host the event.
That single connection meant 100 percent of every ticket sold and dollar donated could go directly to Comfort Cases because overhead expenses were covered by the community itself through individual underwriters and in-kind business supporters.
Women Raising Each Other’s Hands
Bergen County’s giving community is not without competition for hearts, minds and calendars. There is no shortage of causes worth supporting and no shortage of remarkable women championing them.
What sets this community apart is that its leaders do not treat other people’s events as competition. They see them as proof that the community is working.
Lisa Halperin and Jann Reissman, former and current presidents of JCO of Northern Bergen County, had hosted their own mahjong fundraiser for CFPantry.org just two weeks before Cinco de Mahjong.
Rather than protect their momentum, they were among the first to amplify this event, extending their networks and helping drive attendance.
That is not simply courtesy. That is character.
This is the hyperlocal magic of Bergen County. When a woman becomes a trusted voice in her circle, someone people turn to for what is happening, what is worth attending and what is worth supporting, her endorsement carries influence that no ad campaign can replicate.
Multiply that across a dozen women like her and you do not just fill a room. You build a movement, tile by tile.
More Than a Game Night
Perhaps what made the evening most memorable was not the number of backpacks collected, though 60 is nothing short of remarkable.
It was the atmosphere.
People who arrived expecting a fun night out stayed for something deeper.
Part of that came from an unexpected and deeply moving moment midway through the evening when Scheer addressed the room.
In a space filled with laughter and the cheerful shuffle of tiles, he brought the kind of stillness that only a personal story can create.
He spoke about his own childhood, the instability, the trash bags and the feeling of moving through a system that did not always pause long enough to see him as a person.
He explained how those experiences became the foundation of Comfort Cases, why a backpack filled with new items is far more meaningful than its contents alone, and why organizations like CASA create an impact that extends far beyond a single placement.
For many in attendance, it became the moment the evening shifted from fun to unforgettable.
Neighbors connected. New friendships formed. Conversations that began between rounds and across tables continued long after the last tile was drawn.
There was laughter, margaritas and a shared understanding that helping children experiencing foster care does not require a gala or grand gesture.
Sometimes it begins with a game, a room full of neighbors, a founder willing to share his story and a community deciding together that tonight, they play for something that matters.
Thank You to Our Community
Cinco de Mahjong would not have been possible without the generosity of those who believed in the mission before a single tile was drawn.
Because of their support, 100 percent of every ticket sold went directly to Comfort Cases.
Their deepest gratitude goes to Three’s A Party Design, Party Rental LTD, B&M Caterers, Roxanne’s, The Hafter Family, Monika Baginski, Empire CLS and co-founder Michelle Seelinger, Nothing Bundt Cakes, Looksee, Greek City, Susan Camus, owner of The Plaza, Mike Tenebruso, Bergen Pickleball Zone, Smooth Sailing Painters, Harvest Hill Beverage Company and Hungry Harvest Garden.
For more information, visit comfortcases.org and aimsleymgmt.com.