The Charles R. Wood Foundation has
issued a matching grant challenge to the
regional community as part of its latest
major gift to Glens Falls Hospital.
The Wood Foundation made a $125,000
gift to the hospital to assist with the relocation
and expansion of the oncology pharmacy
at the C. R. Wood Cancer Center and
has committed a second $125,000 matching
grant if area families and businesses combine
to give an equal amount to the project.
“Every dollar that you contribute to the
oncology pharmacy project becomes two
dollars, thanks to the Wood Foundation,”
said Cindy Sherwood, vice president of
development for the Glens Falls Hospital
Foundation. “We’re hopeful that everyone
who has been helped by the C. R. Wood
Cancer Center — or who might someday be
helped — will help us meet this challenge.”
The late Charles R. “Charley” Wood,
founder of Storytown USA (now The Great
Escape theme park) and many other area
hospitality businesses, established the
Wood Foundation in 1978 for the purpose
of helping area nonprofit organizations.
In 2001, he made a $1.4 million gift to the
hospital, which led to the renaming of the
Cancer Center in his honor two years later.
“Once again the Wood Foundation has
stepped to the fore with a gift that inspires
others to give,” said Dr. John Schutze of
Schutze Family Dentistry, chairman of the
Glens Falls Hospital Foundation Board of
Trustees. “Just like Charley Wood himself, they make generous investments that multiply
many times over for the good of our
community.”
The oncology pharmacy at The C. R.
Wood Cancer Center is where pharmacists
prepare and dispense the chemotherapy
drugs and other medications used by the
center’s patients. The newly expanded
pharmacy will enable pharmacists to safely
increase the amount of chemotherapy drugs
they are able to prepare at any given time,
providing improved service to patients at
a time when patient volume at the Cancer
Center is increasing. The expansion will
also ensure that the pharmacy is able to
comply with changing federal regulations
regarding the safe handling of medications
to protect both patients and staff, hospital
officials said.
“More than 1,000 new cases of cancer are
treated at Glens Falls Hospital each year,
and the oncology pharmacy is an invaluable
part of the care those patients receive,” said
President and CEO Dianne Shugrue. “We
are thrilled that the Wood Foundation has
chosen to support this important project,
and we look forward to our community’s
help in meeting the challenge.”
Anyone interested in making a gift in
support of the Wood Challenge can give
online at GlensFallsHospital.org, by calling
the Glens Falls Hospital Foundation at
926-5960, or by sending a check to Glens
Falls Hospital Foundation, 126 South St.,
Glens Falls, NY 12801.