The Shore's Quiet Giving: Where Monmouth's Philanthropy Institutions Are Making Moves This Fall

From the Rumson Riverfront to the Monmouth Battlefield, the Shore's Giving Season Is Underway

October in Monmouth County has a particular rhythm: the schools are back, the clubs are winding down their regatta calendars, and the philanthropic institutions that make the community run quietly shift into their year-end rhythms. This fall, four of them are making moves that families along the shore should know about — a new emergency-care expansion funded entirely by community philanthropy, an international arboretum credential for a 90-acre preserve in Middletown, a new executive director at the foundation behind the county's regional hospital, and a literary project that re-tells the story of the Navesink River for America's 250th anniversary.

Riverview Medical Center Foundation — The Emergency Care Expansion

• The Alton A. Hovnanian Emergency Care Center at Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank is undergoing a multi-year renovation and expansion, funded entirely by community philanthropy through the Riverview Medical Center Foundation.
• The foundation also supports a newly renovated oncology unit — both projects funded without any hospital revenue, relying on individual and family gifts.
• Marisa Medina, MCIS, CFRE, was named executive director of Development in October 2026, taking charge of major-gift philanthropy as the expansion enters its first phase.
• The foundation's annual Family Fireworks on the Navesink — held on the DiPiero riverfront in Rumson — returned for a new season, and the foundation launched an "Ambassador" program inviting families to host their own fundraisers in support of the expansion.
• Source: Newswise, Oct 15, 2026 · Foundation giving page

Monmouth Conservation Foundation — Scudder Preserve Earns International Arboretum Status

• Scudder Preserve, MCF's first owned land holding (90 acres in the Navesink section of Middletown), earned international Level I arboretum accreditation from ArbNet in July 2026 — joining a global network of accredited tree collections.
• The preserve was transferred from New Jersey Audubon to MCF in 2024; MCF has since secured a $1 million anonymous seed donation plus a $500,000 New Jersey Resources grant to fund habitat restoration, public access improvements, and education programming.
• MCF's conservation van has taken hands-on environmental activities to more than 3,000 students in the past year, and the preserve now hosts free public events including night hikes, birding, and monarch butterfly identification.
• MCF also helped advance the preservation of 22 additional acres at Monmouth Battlefield, extending the county's protected open-space footprint.
• Source: MCF news · Scudder Preserve page

Navesink Maritime Heritage Association — A River's Story for America's 250

• As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, the NMHA in Red Bank is publishing NAVESINK — A Historical Novel, a literary project that re-tells the story of the Navesink River and its communities through narrative fiction.
• The Association's flagship program remains the six-hour canoe build, where local youth construct working vessels over a weekend session — a project that has run for multiple seasons and become a regular feature in the Two River Times.
• The NMHA continues to steward the historic A.J. Meerwald, a wooden sailing vessel used for public sunset sails on Sandy Hook Bay, and runs River Rangers youth programming.
• The Association also operates the Pete's Banjo, a traditional wooden sailing garvey that offers free public rides along the Navesink.
• Source: Two River Times — NMHA tag · navesinkmaritime.org

Community Foundation of New Jersey — The Monmouth County Community Grant

• The Monmouth County Community Foundation, a geographic affiliate of the Community Foundation of New Jersey (CFNJ), administers the Monmouth County Community Grant — a recurring grant that supports initiatives in the county addressing community needs.
• CFNJ, headquartered in Morristown, channels more than $200 million in donor-advised and unrestricted funds across its county affiliates, including Monmouth, and offers families a structured path for donor-advised funds, legacy giving, and naming opportunities.
• The foundation's Monmouth affiliate is the natural first stop for a family considering its first donor-advised fund, charitable lead trust, or bequest to the county — a decision that can be made in a single phone call.
• Source: CFNJ Monmouth affiliate · CFNJ grant finder

Why it matters locally

These four institutions represent the full spectrum of what local philanthropy looks like when it works: a hospital expansion built entirely on community gifts, a nature preserve that has earned international recognition for its trees, a maritime heritage group turning the river's story into a book for the next generation, and a community foundation that makes the mechanics of legacy giving straightforward for a family deciding where a bequest belongs. None of them are large. None of them are national. All of them are Monmouth, and all of them are funded by families like the ones reading this.

How to get involved

• Riverview Medical Center Foundation — Become an "Ambassador for Riverview" by hosting a personal fundraiser for the Emergency Care Center expansion. Contact Marisa Medina at Marisa.Medina@hmhn.org or visit givehmh.org/RiverviewHostYourOwn. Phone: 732-530-2495.
• Monmouth Conservation Foundation — Visit Scudder Preserve (free, open to the public) or make a gift toward habitat restoration and education. monmouthconservation.org/donate · 908-839-0324.
• Navesink Maritime Heritage Association — Register a child for the six-hour canoe build or make a gift to support the historical novel project. navesinkmaritime.org · info@navesinkmaritime.org.
• Community Foundation of New Jersey (Monmouth affiliate) — Start a donor-advised fund or ask about the Monmouth County Community Grant. cfnj.org/affiliates/monmouth · 973-267-5533.

How Love of Humanity supports this work

Love of Humanity is a peer 501(c)(3) in Monmouth County — not a funder, not a competitor, but a connector. We read the institutional announcements, attend the public events, and translate them into plain-language briefings for families who are deciding where a gift belongs. If you are a donor, a family-office trustee, or a foundation director in Monmouth who wants a second set of eyes on a giving decision, we are happy to walk through the landscape with you. No fees, no obligation — just a conversation between two nonprofits that serve the same families.

This roundup is editorial. No fees were paid. Love of Humanity is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.