Riverview Surpasses $15 Million Fundraising Goal

Riverview Medical Center's Life.Changing. campaign has surpassed its $15 million fundraising goal with a recent $1 million donation, the hospital announced recently.

The campaign is raising money for Riverview's new 22,000-square-foot center for surgical excellence, which includes two speciality surgical suites, a renovated post-anesthesia care center, renovated day stay, and a state-of-the-art conference and educational center.

The most recent $1 million donation came from the Saker ShopRites. Richard Saker is currently a member of the Riverview Medical Center Foundation Board of Trustees and is president and chief executive officer of Sake Holdings Corporation and Saker ShopRites, Inc.

Together with his wife Laura, a professional educator, dancer and choreographer, they have both helped to raise millions of dollars to benefit the hungry, and many other worthwhile causes, a release states.

"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 Saker said.

“We feel it is important to support the community we call home,” Richard Saker 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.”

In addition to the Riverview donation, Saker ShopRites supports the ShopRite Partners in Caring program, a charity dedicated to the fight against hunger. This year, more than 1000 charities have received a portion of the $2 million donated by the program.

Tim Hogan, regional president of Riverview Medical Center and Bayshore Community Hospital, lauded the Saker's donation in a statement and said the donation will help the hospital reach its lofty goals of providing the best care possible.

"People rightly acknowledge that Riverview has had an exceptional past," he said. "But exceptional isn’t going to be good enough for the future; as healthcare moves forward we need to be at the forefront of patient care. The campaign provides an opportunity for any and all community members to put a personal stamp on this historic project — one that will provide state-of-the-art healthcare for generations to come."