Anonymous Donor Revealed During Hard Hat Tour of Cortland Cancer Center

April 6, 2021
Anonymous Donor Revealed During Hard Hat Tour of Cortland Cancer Center
Anonymous Donor Revealed During Hard Hat Tour of Cortland Cancer Center

An anonymous donor to the Cortland Memorial Foundation recently pledged to match every donation made to the Guthrie Cortland Cancer Center project, up to $1 million dollars. Just a few months into the match challenge, Guthrie announced that donations exceeded the $1 million goal. 

Today, to thank the community for helping the foundation reach this important goal, that anonymous donor has chosen to share his identity. 

Mr. Nicholas Renzi, of Cortland, was revealed as the anonymous donor, and spoke recently about the passion that he and his late wife, Agnes Renzi, had for supporting the community through charitable giving.  “We had many friends who battled cancer, and they were my inspiration for making this donation. Tomorrow would have been Agnes’s 92nd birthday, and it seemed like a good way to honor her legacy” he said. “If you’ve had a personal experience with having a friend or relative battling cancer, you know what the challenges are for someone going through that. This new cancer center in Cortland will help make cancer treatment a little easier for those impacted, by bringing those needed services to our community,” Renzi added.

In conjunction with the unveiling its anonymous donor, the Cortland Memorial Foundation also announced the public launch of the Guthrie Cortland Cancer Center Campaign.

“We are thrilled to announce the launch of our Cancer Center campaign by celebrating the generous lead gift of $1 million from Nicholas Renzi and the Nicholas and Agnes Renzi Charitable Fund,” said Deborah Nadolski, Executive Director of the Cortland Memorial Foundation. “Our hope is that this generous charitable gift will inspire others to join in supporting this worthy cause and help ensure the Cancer Center campaign gains the necessary momentum to exceed its $2.5 million dollar goal before the Center opens this fall.  In honor of Nick and Agnes Renzi’s longtime support and generosity, the Guthrie Clinic has also announced the naming of the new integrated cancer center as The Renzi Cancer Center at Guthrie Cortland Medical Center.

Key benefits of the new integrated cancer care center include:   

•    Centralized location and services – providing a single, convenient point where patients can access multi-disciplinary care in radiation and medical oncology treatments, thus eliminating travel. Benefits include access to a full array of surgical and diagnostic services at Guthrie Cortland Medical Center.   

•    The latest innovation and technology – the cancer center will be home to the latest treatment protocols and provide access to the newest technology.  

•    Enhanced patient experience – standardized exam rooms will minimize patient movement by performing all patient-related activities inside the exam room and will also include collaboration space for staff.  

•    Comprehensive approach to care – our comprehensive team of board-certified specialists will work with patients through all aspects of their cancer journey. The new center will provide supportive care programs in the same location where patients see their physicians.  

About Guthrie Cortland Cancer Center:   
The new 10,825 square foot Guthrie Cortland Cancer Center will revolutionize cancer care in the region by improving the patient experience and providing expert cancer care and coordinated services in one location. This $10.6 million facility will bring together radiation and medical oncology with a new state-of-the-art linear accelerator and 10 chemotherapy infusion chairs. The building will include six exam rooms, one exam/procedure room, and one patient meeting room. It will also feature two lab phlebotomy stations and onsite pharmacy for mixing chemotherapy drugs, space for four providers, and fully electronic medical records utilizing the Epic Beacon application.