December Giving and Growing

Celebrating Regions Bank’s presentation of a $225,000 donation to the Campaign for Children’s of Mississippi for the Kathy and Joe Sanderson Tower are, from left, Guy Giesecke, Children’s of Mississippi CEO; Robert McElhaney, UMMC associate comptroller for developmental accounting; Dr. Mary Taylor, Suzan B. Thames Chair and professor and chair of pediatrics at UMMC; Owen King, Regions Bank Brookhaven Branch manager; King’s daughter, Madeline, a Children’s of Mississippi patient; Dr. David Gilliam, a member of Madeline’s medical team; Robert Leard, Regions Bank Metro Jackson market executive; Alon Bee, Regions Bank Jackson Advisory Board chair and a member of the Campaign for Children’s of Mississippi Steering Committee; and Dr. LouAnn Woodward, UMMC vice chancellor for health affairs.
Celebrating Regions Bank’s presentation of a $225,000 donation to the Campaign for Children’s of Mississippi for the Kathy and Joe Sanderson Tower are, from left, Guy Giesecke, Children’s of Mississippi CEO; Robert McElhaney, UMMC associate comptroller for developmental accounting; Dr. Mary Taylor, Suzan B. Thames Chair and professor and chair of pediatrics at UMMC; Owen King, Regions Bank Brookhaven Branch manager; King’s daughter, Madeline, a Children’s of Mississippi patient; Dr. David Gilliam, a member of Madeline’s medical team; Robert Leard, Regions Bank Metro Jackson market executive; Alon Bee, Regions Bank Jackson Advisory Board chair and a member of the Campaign for Children’s of Mississippi Steering Committee; and Dr. LouAnn Woodward, UMMC vice chancellor for health affairs.
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Our donors: Regions Bank donates $225K for Sanderson Tower

Published on Tuesday, December 8, 2020

By: Annie Oeth, aoeth@umc.edu

The Kathy and Joe Sanderson Tower at Children’s of Mississippi is benefiting from a $225,000 gift from Regions Bank, a longtime supporter of the University of Mississippi Medical Center’s clinical mission area.

“Children’s of Mississippi provides best-in-class medical treatment, and Regions Bank is proud to support this campaign to build a best-in-class facility,” said Robert Leard, Metro Jackson market executive for Regions Bank. “The impact made by Children’s of Mississippi is deeply personal and deeply meaningful for families across our state. Through this new facility, Children’s will be able to provide next-level health care to the children of Mississippi for generations to come.”

Joe Sanderson Jr., Sanderson Farms CEO and board chairman who chairs the Campaign for Children’s of Mississippi with his wife, Kathy, thanked Regions leaders for the bank’s commitment to the state’s children and families.

“Regions is a strong ally in support of this important expansion of children’s medical care,” Sanderson said. “We are grateful for their generosity and dedication to the children and families of Mississippi, and we hope that others in Mississippi’s business community will join with Regions to support this critical project for our state.”

Dr. LouAnn Woodward, UMMC vice chancellor for health affairs and dean of the School of Medicine, thanked Regions for its continued support of the Medical Center’s missions.

“We’re thankful to have Regions as a partner in advancing health care,” she said. “They have consistently supported the health of Mississippians through their donations to UMMC.”

In April, before this latest grant, Regions Bank announced it would match donations to COVID-19 relief efforts at UMMC by up to $50,000. The matching gift total was reached within weeks.

Each year, the bank funds the Regions Bank TEACH Prize, which celebrates the Medical Center’s faculty. An acronym for “Toward Educational Advancement in Care and Health,” the TEACH Prize includes a cash award of $10,000. The award was initiated in 2013 and honors UMMC faculty who engage and inspire students through innovative teaching methods.

“Regions Bank’s commitment to community engagement is impacting families across Mississippi,” said Owen King, Regions’ Brookhaven branch manager. “You don’t have to look far to find people whose lives have been touched by the physicians and staff here at UMMC. I’ve experienced this personally as UMMC has provided loving care to my daughter as she battles cancer. The donation Regions is proud to announce will help ensure more patients and more families will have access to quality care, here at home, in the years to come.”