Inova Exceeds “Schar Challenge” with $158 Million Raised in a Year

Dwight and Martha Schar inspire more than 10,000 donors

Fairfax, VA, June 6, 2024 – In May 2023, longtime champions and supporters of Inova, Dwight and Martha Schar, made a transformational gift of $75 million to support Inova’s heart and vascular services and, in turn, challenged the community to match their gift with contributions to Inova over the next year.  Inova is proud to announce it has exceeded the “Schar Challenge” goal, raising more than $83 million for a total of $158 million in one year.

Since the Schar Challenge launched, our community responded with overwhelming support, with more than 10,000 donors giving to Inova, demonstrating a shared commitment to transforming healthcare in the region.

“We are deeply grateful to Dwight and Martha Schar for their extraordinary generosity and powerful call to action, and also to our Northern Virginia community who, together, donated more than $80 million to Inova in just one year,” said J. Stephen Jones, MD, FACS, President and CEO, Inova. “This tremendous achievement is a reflection of a community that cares deeply about having world-class healthcare locally. It’s a profound vote of trust and a testament to the spirit of giving that defines our Inova community.”

Eight years ago, the Schars made a gift of $50 million to launch the Inova Schar Cancer Institute, which has transformed cancer care in the region. Since 1993, they have given or pledged more than $126 million to Inova.

“Early on in this challenge, Martha and I shared our belief in the power of a single act of generosity to spark a wave of transformation—and our community has stepped up in a big way to show this is possible,” said Dwight Schar, Founder, NVR, Inc. “This is an important step, and I’ll say again: nothing is more important than having world-class healthcare available to every person in our community.”

“We are deeply grateful to Dwight and Martha Schar for leading the way with their generous support and for inspiring so many others to step forward,” said Sage Bolte, PhD, LCSW, CST, FAOSW, Chief Philanthropy Officer and President of the Inova Health Foundation. “I’m especially grateful to our Board Chair, Robert G. Hisaoka and our Inova CEO, Dr. Jones, for joining our donors with their own giving, as we met this challenge. The spirit of shared leadership that they and thousands of other donors demonstrated over the past year will fuel our next phase, with so much work still to do to ensure a healthy and thriving Northern Virginia. As our community has shown, together we can do more.” 

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About Inova                                                              

We are Inova, Northern Virginia and the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area’s leading nonprofit healthcare provider. With expertise and compassion, we partner with our patients to help them stay healthy. We treat illness, heal injury and look at a patient’s whole health to help them flourish. Through our expansive network of hospitals, primary and specialty care practices, emergency and urgent care centers, and outpatient services, Inova provides care for more than one million unique patients every year.  Total patient visits exceed four million annually, demonstrating our ability to deliver the best clinical care and ensuring a seamless experience for all who rely on us for their healthcare needs. Consistently ranked and recognized as a national healthcare leader in safety, quality and patient experience, Inova’s world-class care is made possible by the strength and breadth of our network, our 24,000 team members, our technology and our innovation. Inova is home to Northern Virginia’s only Level 1 Trauma Center and Level 4 Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and provides high-quality healthcare to every person in every community we are privileged to serve – regardless of ability to pay – every day of their life. More information about Inova can be found at www.inova.org.