July Giving and Growing

Sanderson Farms Championship golfer Wes Roach gives golfing tips to Children’s of Mississippi patient Ruby Kate Greer and her mom, Kailyn, of Hermanville during a 2019 visit to the children’s hospital.
Sanderson Farms Championship golfer Wes Roach gives golfing tips to Children’s of Mississippi patient Ruby Kate Greer and her mom, Kailyn, of Hermanville during a 2019 visit to the children’s hospital.
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Our donors: Sanderson Farms Championship set for Sept. 28-Oct. 4

Published on Wednesday, July 8, 2020

By: Annie Oeth, aoeth@umc.edu

A force for philanthropy in Mississippi and a paragon of excellence in professional golf and hospitality, the Sanderson Farms Championship is set for Sept. 28-Oct. 4 at the Country Club of Jackson.

Hosted by Century Club Charities, the tournament has raised record donations for Friends of Children’s Hospital, a nonprofit group that, in 2016, pledged $20 million toward the construction of Children’s of Mississippi’s expansion.

Earlier this year, Century Club presented Friends with a check for $1.3 million from the 2019 tournament. Since Sanderson Farms became the title sponsor in 2013, the tournament has raised more than $7.6 million to benefit the state’s only children’s hospital.

Mississippi’s only PGA TOUR event, the Sanderson Farms Championship was a stand-alone tournament on the PGA TOUR for the first time in 2019. It will again have a solo date this year.

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 tournament will benefit families today and in the future.

“The opening of this building will be transformative for pediatric care in Mississippi and the surrounding region,” he said.

Sanderson Farms Golf Classic 2020 Art

This year, the Sanderson Farms Championship was honored for a second consecutive year by the PGA TOUR with its “Best Charity Integration” Award, which recognizes the tournament that best incorporates its charity and theme into all facets of the event.

Children’s of Mississippi, UMMC’s pediatric arm, is highly visible during the Sanderson Farms Championship, with patients, doctors and nurses greeting tournament spectators in past years. Likewise, PGA TOUR players and members of the PGA TOUR Wives Association have visited patients and families at Children’s of Mississippi during tournament week.

“It’s really rewarding for the tournament to set another record for our annual donation to Friends and Children’s of Mississippi,” said Steve Jent, the tournament’s executive director. “I’m really excited for our staff, volunteers, sponsors, and, more importantly, the patients at Children’s that our first year as a stand-alone event was so successful.”