She Has Spent Her Life Showing Up. Now It's Our Turn.

Myrna Gotrell has never done anything halfway.

For more than 20 years, Myrna has been a steady, compassionate presence in the Hackensack community. Born in Jamaica, she immigrated to Hackensack at 13 and never left. She spent years in broadcasting, corporate America, and ran her own floral & event planning business before walking away from it all to give back to the community that shaped her.

What started as PTA volunteering at Nellie K. Parker Elementary School in the early 2000s became a calling. By 2008 she had transitioned into a paraprofessional role working with special education students and she never looked back. She launched an Etiquette Club for elementary schoolers. She showed up early and stayed late. She became the kind of adult that kids remember for the rest of their lives.

Then in 2015, she was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer.

Most people would have stepped back. Myrna stepped forward. She learned to row as part of her recovery and when her daughter dreamed of bringing a crew team to Hackensack High School, Myrna was right there behind her. In the spring of 2018, Hackensack Crew was born, and Myrna became its coach and its backbone.

After a grueling double mastectomy in 2017 and years of fighting, Myrna transferred to Hackensack High School as a para in 2022 so she could better support the team and the students she loved. What followed was nothing short of extraordinary. She secured thousands of dollars in grants for the program. She introduced hundreds of local youth to the sport of rowing. She raised scholarship funds that sent her athletes to college. She became a nationally recognized advocate for neurodiverse athletes, helping autistic young people find their footing, their confidence, and their community through the sport of rowing. She was appointed to the USRowing Foundation DEI Committee. She co-founded Hope On Water, a nonprofit dedicated to expanding rowing access for underserved youth across the country. She coached Hackensack Crew to multiple state championships.

She did all of this while fighting cancer.

In 2023, Myrna received devastating news: the cancer had metastasized. Tumors were found in her liver. Her cancer is now inoperable and the medication keeping her alive is a targeted therapy called Orserdu (elacestrant), a once-daily oral medication approved for her specific diagnosis. Without insurance, each pill costs approximately $900. She takes it every single day.

This spring, the Hackensack Board of Education announced a $24 million budget deficit. Full time paraprofessionals were offered drastically reduced part time positions with no benefits and no health insurance. Myrna, at 61 years old, facing metastatic cancer, lost the job she poured her heart into. Her health insurance ends in August 2026.

She will lose the coverage that helps her access the medication keeping her alive.

When we reached out to Myrna about this fundraiser, she didn't talk about herself. She said: "I am hurting for my kids and want them to succeed."

That is who she is. That has always been who she is.

This fundraiser exists to honor that. Every dollar raised will go toward:

If you cannot give, please share. Her story deserves to be heard, and the rowing community, the Hackensack community, and anyone who has ever been lifted up by someone who asked for nothing in return will understand why we are asking now.

Myrna Gotrell has spent decades lifting others. It is time we lift her.

Thank you for your kindness, generosity, and support.