aI’ve always been impressed with the Matoian family’s giving tradition started by Charles and Ann and passed on to their son Matty, a long-time Community donor.
 
Often going to work at midnight and returning to home the next afternoon, Charles Matoian provided his son a valuable lesson – hard work pays off. Matty learned a lot from his father about running OK Produce – a wholesale produce distribution business. He worked hard to build the business up for the next generation of the family. He learned about generosity and how giving can change the world for the better. And today, it brings me and Community Medical Centers much pleasure to thank him for his most recent and meaningful gift to help us build a new comprehensive cancer and research center in partnership with UCSF for the people of our Valley.
 
I first met Matty in 2002 when he gave a remarkable gift to help bring the leading-edge CyberKnife laser technology to Community Regional Medical Center – a system that treats a lot of cancer patients. His gift allowed Community to be the first in the world with that Gen4 CyberKnife technology used to shrink hard-to-reach tumors, especially for cancers that are so prevalent in the Valley.
 
It was his wish with that gift for CyberKnife to honor his parents who taught him so much growing up. Both Charles and Ann ended up battling cancer in the 1990’s and were cared for by the physicians and nurses at Community. Through that process, Matty learned how CyberKnife could pinpoint tumors throughout the body and deliver concentrated doses of radiation with millimeter accuracy, giving the patient the best experience possible during an extremely hard time. This amazing gift has helped countless patients receive the highest level of care right here at home.
 
And after recently learning about Community’s quest to expand and elevate cancer care with plans to build a new cancer and research center, Matty was among the first to give and help make this a reality. He continues to feel passionate about giving back to the medical center that took such good care of parents – and to help provide the level of cancer services that will keep patients and families from having to make unrelenting trips to Los Angeles or San Francisco for the care they deserve. 
 
The support Matty has shown to Community over the years is incredible, now joining a greatly admired group of donors at the $500,000 Visionary level of giving. Thank you again for touching so many lives and helping our patients and their families through difficult times.
 
Jan Paul
Community Foundation