“We make a living by what we get,

but we make a life by what we give.”

WINSTON CHURCHILL

ABOUT US

Stewart Rahr created Rahr Enterprises when he sold his pharmaceutical distribution company, Kinray, to Cardinal Health for $1.3 billion in 2010.

Stewart created Rahr Enterprises to invest his money. He has long-term investment horizon and a fondness for entrepreneurs with creative ideas for making America more productive, strong, energy independent, and medically innovative.

Rahr Enterprises is also Stewart's base of operations for staying in touch with his many friends in the business, entertainment, political, and charitable worlds.

The offices of Rahr Enterprises are in Trump Tower at 5th Avenue and 57th Street. Designed by a team of Gensler architects and designers lead by Ed Wood, the offices unmistakably reflect Stewart's singular personality and charisma.

MISSION STATEMENT

INVESTING IN OUR WORLD'S FUTURE

Supporting our youth, education,
and medical research

STEWART J. RAHR

Stewart Rahr is a true rags-to-riches story.

Stewart was born in Brooklyn, New York to a family of decidedly modest means. His father, Joseph, ran a pharmacy. Stewart worked alongside his father, "picking and packing" product for shipment to the customers.

Stewart took over the pharmacy after his father died in 1978. Under his guidance, the company moved from a tiny pharmacy on Avenue D in Brooklyn to a garage on Troy Avenue, then to larger quarters in Elmhurst, and finally to its 500,000 square foot facility in Whitestone.

Stewart ran Kinray with a determined focus on customer service. Realizing that the independent neighborhood pharmacy was becoming an endangered species in the world of the giants such as Duane Reade, Rite Aid, and CVS, Stewart determined to help them become more competitive.

He vastly expanded the products that Kinray offered, eventually including in its inventory every item that a pharmacy could conceivably want or need, from the full range of prescription pharmaceuticals to soaps and shampoos to hairdryers and beauty products. He forged innovative supply agreements with pharmaceutical manufacturers, capturing large discounts and promoting sales of lower cost generics.

He offered twice-a-day deliveries, assuring the pharmacist that the customer who dropped by with a prescription or request on the way to work could pick it up on the way home.

And, Stewart fiercely automated to keep his prices low and service high. Kinray was among the first private companies in the nation to purchase automated machinery that allowed orders to be filled by having baskets travel along a conveyor belt as they were fed various products from computerized picking machines, ending their trips at the loading station for the delivery van that would speed the error-free order on its way. Stewart learned about the existence of the automated system on a 1993 plane flight that found him seated beside an Austrian inventor who had developed the technology. Stewart listened eagerly and immediately invested heavily to adopt the system, years before his competitors could follow suit.

In building Kinray, Stewart built what he always called his "Kinray family". He knew most of his employees on a first name basis (and insisted that they call him by his first name). He knew that no business could succeed without a core of highly motivated, capable, and loyal employees, and he took care to offer extraordinary assistance to employees who faced special needs or tragedies.

The main ingredient to Stewart’s success, though, was not the equipment he employed or the talented team he assembled. It was his personal touch with his customers. Stewart got to know hundreds and hundreds of independent pharmacists. He learned about their businesses, their needs, their frustrations, and their dreams. He helped them win the support of their local political leaders in lobbying for the same kinds of Medicaid reimbursement that the large chains were receiving. He listened to them, and often times made loans to them, and they appreciated that he cared and helped.

Pharmacists who at first wished to order nothing, or only a smattering of their needs, gradually came to know Stewart and his company, and came more and more to rely on Kinray for all their needs. In time, Kinray’s increasing knowledge of the entire industry allowed it to offer invaluable guidance and advice to its customers, helping the small pharmacists to survive, grow, and thrive.

Over the course of four decades, Stewart built the business into an industry powerhouse. Stewart and Kinray were featured in dozens of stories published by Forbes, New York Post, Crain’s New York Business, and The New York Times. When he finally sold the business to Cardinal Health in 2010, Kinray employed more than 2,000 people, serviced more than 3,000 retail pharmacies, and had annual sales of more than $4 billion.

His four decades at Kinray made Stewart a millionaire, and then a multi-millionaire, and then a billionaire. With the sale of the company, many others shared in his good fortune. Hundreds of his long-time employees received extraordinary bonuses upon the sale’s closing, and ten of them became millionaires or multi-millionaires.

Even with all of his business success, Stewart does not think of himself primarily as a businessman, or entrepreneur, or investor. Rather, he is a giver. He is today, as he was during his years at the helm of Kinray, deeply committed to philanthropic causes. He wants to change the world, and he has endowed a charitable foundation, The Stewart J. Rahr Foundation, to help accomplish that mission.

Stewart also believes in having fun. He is an avid golfer, and frequently uses the game as an opportunity to further his charitable causes. His Celebration of Life parties at his summer home, Burnt Point, on Georgica Pond, have featured star performers such as Alicia Keys, David Foster, Lionel Ritchie, Katharine McPhee, and Andrea Bocelli. And, they have attracted a constellation of entrepreneurs, political leaders, and sports stars.

OUR STAFF

Steven Burns

Director of Operations

Nicolette Pezzanite

Chief Executive Assistant

GRANTS

The majority of our funding is proactive and identified by our staff, but the Stewart J. Rahr Foundation accepts grant applications from organizations without discrimination of age, race, disability, religion, sex or national origin. However, all applications must operate within the foundation's purpose, mission and vision. As a private foundation, our IRS categorization dictates that we award grants to organizations that are in compliance with the section 501(c)(3) and are in good standing. Because of this the foundation is unable to award grants directly to individuals.

HOW TO APPLY

To get started, please fill out the grant application form by filling out the form below. After submitting your application, you'll promptly receive email confirmation that your request has been reviewed. If you have any comments or questions please contact us at info@rahrfoundation.org.

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SPONSORED CHARITIES

AABR Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Association American Cancer Society American Foundation for AIDS Research American Foundation for Suicide Prevention amfAR Andrew Kukes Foundation for Social Anxiety Arnie's Army Foundation Bailey's Café Baruch College Fund Beth Israel Medical Center Birthright Israel Foundation Bnos Devorah High School Boys and Girls Club of America Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis California Community Foundation Campaign to End Obesity Carl Perkins Center for Prevention of Child Abuse Carlebach Shul Carmelo Anthony Foundation Catholic Community Appeal Chabad's Children of Chernobyl Andrea Bocelli Foundation, care of Charities Aid Foundation America Charity Global, Inc. (Charity Water) Children's Tumor Foundation Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths Conference of Major American Jewish Organizations Congressional Award Foundation Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America Daniel's Music Foundation Darryl Strawberry Foundation David Lynch Foundation Doctors Without Borders East Hampton Day Care Learning Center Edeyo Foundation EFI Revlon Run/Walk for Women NY Empire State Pride Agenda Emunah of America Entertainment Industry Foundation Eric Trump Foundation Exchange Club-Carl Perkins Center FasterCures FATE Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS Florida House Foundation Friends of Israel Defense Forces Friends of Wonderland Full Circle of Rochester NY Gabrielle's Angel Cancer Research Foundation Generation Rescue Inc. Generosity Water George Jackson Academy Girls Educational and Mentoring Services Global Green USA Global Prostate Cancer Research Foundation Global Wildlife Conservation Go Campaign Go Red for Women Luncheon Good Shepherd Catholic School Greater Dallas Council on Drug and Alcohol Abuse Habitat for Humanity Harboring Hearts Housing Foundation Hatzlacha Foundation Heather on Earth Music Foundation Heather on Earth Music Foundation Hebrew Academy of Five Towns & Rockaway Helping a Hero High Socks for Hope Inc. Hope For Change Inc. Hospital for Special Surgery Israel Cancer Research Fund Inc. iVolunteer Kabbalah Center Kids Peace Corp (Teen Central) Kulanu Torah Academy L A Sports and Entertainment Commission Larger Than Life USA Inc. Leave No Veteran Behind Life's WORC Little Lighthouse Foundation Inc. Long Island Children's Museum Los Angeles Ballet Inc. Maasai Wilderness Conservation Fund Make a Wish Wisconsin Make-A-Wish America Many Hopes Inc. March of Dimes March to the Top - Africa Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation Inc. Mattel Children's Hospital at UCLA Medical Development for Israel, Inc. The Melanoma Research Alliance Foundation Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Meserve-Kunhardt Foundation Inc. Miracle House of New York, Inc. Morselife Foundation Inc Movember Inc. MYOFB Inc. Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America, Inc. National Stuttering Association National Veterans Legal Services Program New Venture Fund New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation New York Police and Fire Widows and Children Benefit Fund New York-Presbyterian Hospital No Greater Sacrifice Foundation One Fund Boston Palisades Optimist Foundation Inc. Play for P.I.N.K., Inc. Police Athletic League Prevent Cancer Foundation Project Medishare for Haiti Inc. Project Play Prostate Cancer Foundation PS 8 PTA Public School 003 RAJE, Inc. Renewal of the Lord's Temple Ministries RENS Basketball Returning Veterans Project Rising Stars Youth Foundation Robin Hood Foundation Rolling for Pink Sailing Heals Salute the Troops Sam Bish Foundation Sheriff's Youth Foundation Simon Wiesenthal Center Soldier's Angels Span Inc. Special Olympics St. Baldrick's Foundation St Francis Hospital Foundation St. Jude Children's Research Hospital St. Juliana Catholic School Starfish Foundation Susan G. Komen – Susan G. Komen 3-Day Swords to Plowshares Veterans Rights Organization The American Fallen Soldiers Project The Anti Recidivism Coalition The Brain Tumor Foundation The Brotherhood/Sister Sol The Chapin School The David Foster Foundation The Joe Torre Safe at Home Foundation The Nancy Lieberman Foundation The NephCure Foundation The Prostate Cancer Foundation The Ronald McDonald House of New York Thorn TLF Charities UJA-Federation of New York Venice Family Clinic Veterans Alliance of Southern California Vets Journey Home Vision Mexico Warrior Canine Connections Inc. YEB Educational Programs Yeshiva Ketana of Manhattan Yeshiva of Far Rockaway Yeshivat Chovevei Rabbinical School Yeshivat Maharat Young Israel of Lawrence-Cedarhurst Young Women's Leadership Network Inc. Zen Foundation

TESTIMONIALS

“The Nephcure Foundation is deeply grateful for the kind and abundantly generous support it has received from the Stewart J. Rahr Foundation. Upon hearing that 8 year old Matthew Levine was extremely sick with a devastating kidney disease which has no cure, Stewart donated $100,000 dollars on the spot to the Nephcure Foundation. No hesitation whatsoever, no questions asked. Since that day Stewart has become the largest donor to the Nephcure Foundation in the world. Stewart Rahr’s philanthropy extends far beyond his financial contributions as he cares deeply about how people with Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) and Nephrotic Syndrome suffer. Stewart Rahr is a man who is passionate about providing a sense of hope in the lives of patients like Matthew Levine and the thousands others like him with FSGS. Thank you, Stewart Rahr and bless you for all that you have done!”

Love the Nephcure Foundation staff,
families, patients and the Levine family.

“On behalf of the fallen heroes I paint at The American Fallen Soldiers Project and families that our organization comforts. Stewart's involvement, continued support, and unfailing grace has brought honor and respect in ways that can not be measured to the many grieving families that have suffered this great loss. Letters from these dear parents, wives, and family members that have received portraits and know of Stewart's support for the AFSP speak of a life changing healing and restoration through the process and our joint effort. They have stated repeatedly that "Stewart is an American hero, just as their fallen son or husband". This recognition has been well earned and validated for years of support ensuring these heroes are not forgotten and their very presenceand appearance is returned home...”

With great appreciation and love,
Phil Taylor
Co-Founder/Executive Director
The American Fallen Soldiers Project

“What can I say about Stewart Rahr that hasn't been said a thousand times before? Stewart is an extremely kind and generous soul who is quick to help those less fortunate. We here at the Mark Wahlberg youth foundation have had an amazing working relationship with Stewart and have found him to be a wonderful man. As for the Stewart Rahr foundation staff, there are no words to adequately describe the level of commitment and professionalism they have displayed. We look forward to continuing our relationship with Stewart and the Stewart Rahr foundation.”

James Wahlberg
Executive Director
The Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation

“Paralysis does not discriminate. It can happen to anyone at any time! Stewart Rahr understands that life can change in a split second and a mother, a son and a loved one’s life will forever be altered. This is why we have to thank Stewart for his unwavering support of The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis and his devotion to our mission. Stewart sees the need to support the cutting-edge science which will one day find a cure for paralysis. Stewart is a long time, generous benefactor of The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis which raises funds for The Miami Project, the world’s most comprehensive spinal cord injury research center, and a designated Center of Excellence at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. The Miami Project’s international team more than 300 scientists, researchers, clinicians and support staff who take innovative approaches to the challenges of brain and spinal cord injury. Our Clinical Trials Initiative is designed to take discoveries found to be successful in laboratory studies and fast track them to human studies, like our FDA approved Schwann cell transplantation trial. Committed to finding a cure for paralysis resulting from spinal cord injury and to seeing millions worldwide walk again, we applaud Stewart for always Standing Up For Those Who Can’t and supporting The Buoniconti Fund.”

The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis
Stephanie Sayfie Aagaard
Director of Major Gifts, Corporate Relations,
Marketing and Events
The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis
The Buoniconti Fund

“Stewart Rahr is one of the world’s most innovative and generous philanthropists sponsoring young cancer scientists. Currently, Mr. Rahr is supporting a “Fab Five” Of PCF Young Investigators at 4 university cancer centers in the US. Later this year, 11 additional Rahr young scientists will be selected. These 16 Rahr young investigators will be conducting groundbreaking research in earlier detection, improved genomic diagnosis, and new precision treatments for the most aggressive forms of prostate cancer. In addition to Mr. Rahr’s enormous investment in early-career talent to solve the prostate cancer problem and impact cancer treatment in all its forms, Mr. Rahr is generously supporting with a $5 million gift the largest international team of scientists in the history of prostate cancer studying the genomics of aggressive disease . The team is studying the genomic basis of resistance and sensitivity to new medicines for prostate cancer and is generating data on over 500 patients that will be used by the cancer research community to take care of every single prostate cancer patient who comes after the completion of the project. Mr. Rahr is a game changer in funding cancer research.”

Jonathan Simons
Prostate Cancer Foundation

“It takes more than a magic wand to grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions – it takes partners like the Stewart J. Rahr Foundation. All of us at Make-A-Wish^® Metro New York and Western New York express our heartfelt gratitude for the historic pledge of $10 million in celebration our 30th anniversary and the granting of our 10,000th wish. One wish child expressed the long-lasting benefit of a wish with these words: "You gave me confidence for the future." The confidence that the Stewart J. Rahr Foundation has shown in Make-A-Wish through this landmark gift will have an enormous impact on our ability to make dreams come true for future generations of wish children, a future that will likely see the need to grant the next 10,000 wishes not in 30 years, but in the next decade. Beyond these incredible financial resources, thank you for inspiring so many wish children and families with your compassion and your deep commitment to our mission.”