“Mr. Riley, you rock.” He’s been told that before, but he had to check with his son to make sure it was a good thing.
George Riley, a Farmington Hills philanthropist, has done it again. After reading a newspaper article about the Farmington Hills Skate Park project and the grassroots effort to raise $850,000 by the end of the year, he opened his heart and his Riley Foundation to the tune of $500,000.
“The mission statement of the Riley Foundation is to help children in health, welfare or education,” Riley said. “This kind of falls into the welfare situation because we want to keep our kids busy so they’re not out on the street.”
The donation came as a surprise to the Skate Park Committee and organizers. “He is a very generous man,” said Dave Boyer, director of Special Services for Farmington Hills. “It’s just awesome because it gives us the push we needed.” The fund-raising effort began last fall for the concrete skate park, which will be built at Founders Sports Park on Eight Mile in Farmington Hills. It won’t be just a concrete area with a couple of ramps, it’s going to be “the place to be” for skateboarders and revelers from all around the region and will likely host national events, say organizers.
The skate park, now officially named Riley Skate Park, will fill a need in the community.
“We’ve got to keep young people active and get them going,” Boyer said. It will be a top quality regional attraction in southeast Michigan; bolster the local economy; strengthen the community image; create a sense of place; contribute to the health and well-being of the community; and will provide positive activity in a safe, secure environment, organizers said.
“I’ve been working with all these people on this project and I don’t even think (Mr. Riley) realizes how much this means to so many people,” said Bryan Farmer, recreation supervisor for Farmington Hills. “It’s not just a skate park.” Riley said he hopes his donation is the boost that will carry the project through.
“I hope it does everything they hope it’s going to do, to get it off the ground,” he said.
George Riley, who had a TV repair business in the 1950s before creating Clover Communications, sold his business to Ameritech in 1998 and decided to put 20 percent of the proceeds into a newly established Riley Foundation, with the idea of helping children. Riley has since donated $5 million to Detroit Public Television for its broadcast center in Wixom and $400,000 was donated by the foundation to build Riley Park in downtown Farmington.
Originally published July 12, 2006