RED BANK – Riverview Medical Center has received a $1 million charitable donation from Saker ShopRites to Meridian Health to benefit the Life.Changing. Campaign for Surgical Excellence at Riverview.
The donation, which pushes the fundraising for the project past its $15 million goal help support the construction of Riverview’s new 22,000-square-foot center for surgical excellence.
The project includes two sophisticated specialty surgical suites, renovated post-anesthesia care area, relocated and renovated surgical day stay, and a state-of-the-art conference and educational center. The center will allow patients to continue receiving advanced surgical procedures close to home, without having to travel to New York City or elsewhere.
The Saker family has spent a lifetime sharing their blessings. Richard currently serves as a member of the Riverview Medical Center Foundation Board of Trustees. As president and chief executive officer of Saker Holdings Corp., and Saker ShopRites, Inc., Richard has harnessed the power of the enterprise to benefit countless lives and the quality of life for the residents of Monmouth and Ocean counties. Together with his wife, Laura, a professional educator, dancer, and choreographer, they have helped to raise millions of dollars to benefit the hungry, and many other worthwhile causes.
“Our family is extremely proud and honored to be a part of a project that is going to have such a life-changing impact on the surrounding communities,” Laura said.
“We feel it is important to support the community we call home,” Richard said. “Laura and I have always had a deep affection for Riverview Medical Center, where our children were born and where our family members have always been well cared for. When we heard about the new center being built, we wanted to do what we could to help make it happen.”
As third generation in a family business, Richard remains loyal to his roots in Monmouth County and to his hometown of Freehold; site of the first family-owned and operated Saker’s market, established in 1906 by his grandparents. Together with Laura, who serves on the boards of the Monmouth County SPCA, Two River Theater Company, Monmouth Conservation Foundation, and the Drumthwacket Foundation, they have maintained a decades-long Saker family tradition of giving back to the community in which they work and live.
“We are grateful for the long-standing commitment to Riverview Medical Center by one of Monmouth County’s most charitable families,” says David Flood, president of the Meridian Health Foundation. “This gift is a tangible affirmation of our commitment as the health-care heart of our community and provides critical support for the programs and services we are developing. Thanks to their generosity and vision, the Sakers have put this campaign over the top, while contributing to a momentum that has us ahead in our plans for a second phase of growth for Riverview that we will be sharing with the community shortly.”
To learn more about the center for surgical excellence, or to support the Life. Changing. campaign visit www.RiverviewMedicalCenter.com/LifeChanging.
