Our donors: Sanderson Farms Championship host’s $1.3M gift breaks record
Published on Monday, April 13, 2020
By: Annie Oeth, aoeth@umc.edu
For the sixth year in a row, Century Club Charities has set a record in philanthropy by announcing a $1.3 million donation to Friends of Children’s Hospital from the 2019 Sanderson Farms Championship.
At a news conference Jan. 9, a tournament host presented a check to Friends, the fundraising organization dedicated to supporting the University of Mississippi Medical Center’s pediatric health care mission, including the state’s only children’s hospital.
“Spoiler alert: It’s another record year,” quipped Pat Busby, Century Club Charities president.
Celebrating the record-breaking Century Club Charities donation to Friends of Children’s Hospital are, from left, Dr. Mary Taylor, Suzan B. Thames Chair, professor and chair of pediatrics; Children’s of Mississippi patient Felton Walker; Sanderson Farms Championship Executive Director Steve Jent; Friends of Children’s Hospital Board Chair Melanie Morgan; Century Club Charities President Pat Busby; Dr. LouAnn Woodward, vice chancellor for health affairs and dean of the School of Medicine; Sanderson Farms CEO and Chairman of the Board Joe Sanderson, Jr.; Children’s of Mississippi patient Tiana Rollins; Sanderson Farms Director of Marketing Hilary Burroughs; and Children’s of Mississippi CEO Guy Giesecke.The record-breaking donation from the 2019 Sanderson Farms Championship follows the $1.25 million raised in 2018. With the 2019 gift, Century Club Charities has given more than $7.6 million to Friends since 2013, the first year Sanderson Farms became the title sponsor.
Those donations help children across the state live healthier lives, Busby said.
“Children’s of Mississippi treats 150,000 to 175,000 children per year from every city and county in the state of Mississippi,” Busby said. “The $1.3 million contribution today is a Mississippi statewide event.”
The donation to Friends will go toward bringing UMMC’s seven-story pediatric expansion to completion. In 2016, Friends made a $20 million pledge to the Campaign for Children’s of Mississippi, the philanthropic effort to raise $100 million to fund the project.
Sanderson Farms CEO and board chairman Joe Sanderson, Jr., who chairs the Campaign for Children’s of Mississippi with his wife, Kathy, said the funds raised through the state’s only PGA TOUR event will benefit families today as well as in the future.
“The opening of this building will be transformative for pediatric care in Mississippi and the surrounding region,” he said.
The Sandersons launched the Campaign for Children’s of Mississippi in 2016 with a $10 million personal donation.
“Every child deserves a future, and that future can begin here with Children’s of Mississippi and continue through that child’s life,” said Melanie Morgan, Friends of Children’s Hospital board chair. “We want to see children back on the playground, back in their schools and communities and living lives of joy and happiness.”
The 2020 Sanderson Farms Championship will take place Sept. 28-Oct. 4 at the Country Club of Jackson.