Andrea to present Charity Award 7 Dec 2007

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Richard Saker and his wife, Laura, raised $125,000 for the charity in August through a program in which his company matched contributions from customers.

"I was just very touched by everything I saw that this organization represented," said Richard Saker, 56, of Millstone Township.

The Vision of Children Foundation is based in San Diego and sponsors scientific research to help children who have uncorrectable vision disorders.

The Sakers will receive the award after a concert at Madison Square Garden by Bocelli, an opera singer who has found widespread commercial success. Bocelli, who has congenital glaucoma, has been blind since he was 12.

Richard Saker is president and chief executive officer of Saker Holdings in Howell, which owns 27 ShopRite supermarkets in central New Jersey. He said he was alerted to the organization about a year ago by his banker, George Triebenbacher, an executive with GMAC whose child has hereditary blindness.

Richard Saker enlisted checkout clerks last summer to solicit donations from customers, which the company matched.

Saker has been involved with charitable causes before. Last summer, his company raised $123,000 for the Joan Dancy and People With ALS Support Group, a Middletown-based support group for people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease.

He said the chance to meet Bocelli would be a thrill.

"It will be a wonderful experience, and it's a great honor to receive an award from Andrea," Richard Saker said. "And it will be something we'll remember for the rest of our lives."

Source:APP