Members of the Horseshoe Lake Association present a $250 donation to Riverwood Foundation Manager Katie Nelson for the Better Together Capital Campaign supporting the expansion and renovations at Riverwood Healthcare Center. Pictured left to right are Bill Ethen, Carol Pawlak, Katie Nelson, Paul Held.
Donations to Better Together campaign matched to $12,500
Thanks to Wayne and Janelle Floe, McGregor area residents now have an even greater reason to give to the Better Together Capital Campaign.FLOE International is challenging the McGregor area community with a matching gift of $12,500. Floe says, “Our family, and the team at FLOE International, are proud to support the hospital expansion at Riverwood so that our friends, family, coworkers and neighbors have the opportunity to receive first-class health care in the community where we live.”
Riverwood Foundation Manger Katie Nelson comments: “Riverwood Foundation is pleased with the level of support the McGregor area community has already provided and is excited about how the Floe donation will leverage new gifts.”
Shirley Callahan-Winegar, local resident and Riverwood Foundation board member, says, “The McGregor area has already contributed a generous $91,144 toward the capital campaign. Riverwood Foundation has set a goal of raising $125,000 from the McGregor area. This new challenge from FLOE means that gifts from McGregor area residents to the campaign will be doubled. We are so close. We hope this new match will encourage new gifts to the campaign and push us closer to our $2.2 million goal!”
Recent McGregor area gifts to the campaign have come from the Horseshoe Lake Association, Dean Masonry and Concrete, and the American Legion Auxiliary. All gifts to Riverwood Foundation for the Better Together Capital Campaign will be doubled until the $12,500 match is met.
A sub-committee of the volunteer campaign steering committee has been working hard to get the word out in the McGregor area. Members include Shirley Callahan-Winegar, Linda Farah, Robert Lewis, Art Orosco, Marty Ryan and Elsa Sorenson.
Riverwood Gala Committee points to progress toward Otto Bremer Foundation matching grant goal of $300,000.
There’s just $11,945 left to raise for Riverwood Foundation to secure a $300,000 challenge grant from the Otto Bremer Foundation.
In 2011, Riverwood Foundation set out to raise $2.2 million through its Better Together Capital Campaign to support Riverwood Healthcare Center’s $21 million expansion project that offers greater privacy and safety for patients and their families. To support the project, the Otto Bremer Foundation put forth a challenge to the community in the form of a generous $300,000 matching grant, of which Riverwood Foundation has raised $288,555.
Riverwood Foundation Interim Director Jodie Johnson says: “We are thrilled with the level of support we’ve received so far from our volunteers and donors. We are hopeful that folks who have not yet made a contribution to the campaign will now rise to the challenge. Time is running short to get your gift doubled with a dollar-for-dollar match by the Otto Bremer Foundation as we expect that we’ll reach the $300,000 goal before the end of June.”
To date, donations to the Better Together campaign total nearly $1.6 million with another $600,000 that must be raised to reach the $2.2 million goal by the end of 2012.
2012 Riverwood Gala
Planning is already underway for the Foundation’s premier annual fundraising event and is being organized by a dedicated group of volunteer committee members.
This year’s gala is set for October 13th at the 40 Club Convention Center. Proceeds from the 2012 black-tie affair will support Riverwood’s hospital expansion project. In 2011, more than $57,000 was raised toward the Better Together campaign.
Johnson says: “We are looking forward to another spectacular evening to raise funds to serve the healthcare needs of area residents at Riverwood Healthcare Center.”
For more information about the expansion project and to make a tax-deductible gift, visit www.riverwoodhealthcare.com/bettertogether or call the Foundation office at (218) 927-5554.
May 2012 Healing Garden ceremony at Riverwood Healthcare
A few rain drops fell during the ceremony but this didn’t keep almost 50 people away from the annual Healing Garden Memorial Ceremony on May 27th to honor and commemorate loved ones.
The short program included an invocation by Bill Fox, a reading of honors and memorials by Riverwood Foundation interim chairman Matthew Hill and two outstanding vocal performances by Miss Aitkin, Emily Lundgren.
The Foundation holds a ceremony each year to commemorate those who have been honored through a brick, living flowers, tree or other memorial. The Healing Garden was created in 2003 to provide a place of peace and reflection for patients, their families, Riverwood employees and all members of the community.
To find out more about the Garden or order a memorial for your loved one, contact Katie Nelson at (218) 927-5158 or knelson2@riverwoodhealthcare.org
Loren Larson
Melissa Magnuson
Jodie Johnson
Riverwood Foundation has elected a new slate of officers for 2012-2013 that includes Jodie Johnson, chair; Matthew Hill, vice chair; Terry Butenhoff, secretary, and Mike Steffen, treasurer. Melissa Magnuson, Riverwood diabetes educator, has also joined the Foundation board. Also, Garrison community member Loren Larson joined the board in 2011 and has been appointed to the finance committee.
Jodie Johnson will serve as Riverwood Foundation’s interim executive director and capital campaign director, assisting John Slettom until he returns to the Foundation full time as the executive director.
Johnson has been an active member of the Foundation board and has served in several capacities including on the finance committee and Better Together Capital Campaign Steering Committee. She and her family are Riverwood Foundation donors and founders of the Zachary Johnson Kids with Cancer Fund, a fund within Riverwood Foundation that provides grants to children with cancer and their families in Aitkin and Crow Wing County. Johnson also chaired the Gala committee for seven consecutive years.
“We are pleased to have Jodie’s assistance during this interim period,” says Riverwood CEO Michael Hagen. “Since 2003, she has excelled in a number of volunteer leadership capacities, helping to raise significant dollars to move the mission of Riverwood Healthcare Center forward. Her dedication and knowledge are assets to our organization.”
Riverwood Foundation recently celebrated a major milestone of surpassing $1.5 million in donations toward its goal of $2.2 million for the Better Together Capital Campaign.
“I truly believe in the mission of the Riverwood Foundation and will do everything I can to see to the success of the every-day business of the foundation and the continued success of the Better Together Capital Campaign,” Johnson said. “I look forward to helping where I am needed in this exciting time at Riverwood Foundation and Riverwood Healthcare Center.”
Jodie Johnson can be reached at the Foundation office at (218) 927-5554 or JJohnson2@riverwoodhealthcare.org
Aitkin Lions member Tom Brand presents $2,000 check to Riverwood Foundation Manager Katie Nelson.
McGregor Lions members Elsa Sorenson and Larry Turner present a $2,000 check to Riverwood Foundation Board member Robert Lewis (far left).
Sno-Flyers members Al Rinta and Denny Pepera present a $1,000 check to Riverwood Foundation Manager Katie Nelson.
Riverwood Foundation has much to be thankful for this holiday season. Over the past month, the Aitkin Lions Club, McGregor Lions Clubs and Tamarack Sno-Flyers have all made generous gifts to Riverwood Foundation for the Better Together Capital Campaign totaling $5,000. In addition, these contributions have been matched dollar for dollar by the Otto Bremer Foundation, which pledged a $300,000 matching grant to the campaign earlier this year.
With the support of these civic groups and other local healthcare supporters, the Foundation has raised more than $1.4 million toward its campaign goal of $2.2 million.
The Foundation hopes to reach the Bremer challenge by December 31, which will bring the total amount raised to $1.6 million to support the hospital expansion project.
For more information about the project and to make a tax-deductible gift, visit www.riverwoodhealthcare.com/bettertogether or call the Foundation office at (218) 927-5554.
