Allen Exploration CEO and Wife donate a third $500,000 to Children’s of Mississippi’s Growing Campaign

Tuesday evening, at the Allen Exploration Pro-Am Pairings Party held during the Sanderson Farms Championship, Carl Allen, Allen Exploration CEO, made a third consecutive $500,000 donation to the Campaign for Children’s of Mississippi. Allen, and his wife, Gigi, from Dallas, are close friends with the Sandersons, and with last evening’s contribution have donated $1.5 million to the campaign.

“My wife and I are fully committed to the children in Mississippi and especially those at Batson Children’s Hospital through the Sanderson Farms Championship,” said Allen. “We realize that you can’t effect change unless you affect it at the level of the children.” 

The Allens’ reach goes beyond Mississippi and the U.S. with other children’s philanthropic endeavors including the Wichita, Kansas-based Envision, and Dallas-based Envision Lighthouse for the Blind, both created to improve the lives of partially sighted and blind children through the gift of research technology. The Allens in the past year extended their gift of technology to grade school students in the Bahamas by donating approximately 600 tablets, to date. The Allens have currently shifted their focus to Hurricane Dorian relief efforts in the Bahamas.

“The recent devastation faced across the northern Bahamas is heartbreaking,” said Allen. “Our hearts are with all those who lost family and friends, homes, and businesses to Hurricane Dorian. Gigi and I remain committed to do everything we can to help them on this road to recovery.” Allen Exploration is matching dollar for dollar any contribution up to a total of $1 million. More information can be found at allenexploration.com or walkerscay.com.

The $100 million Campaign for Children’s of Mississippi, also known as the Growing Campaign, is helping fund the completion of a seven-story pediatric expansion at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. The addition will more than double the square footage of the state’s only children’s hospital.

Plans include an outpatient specialty clinic, private neonatal and pediatric intensive care rooms for the state’s most fragile patients, an imaging suite designed for children and surgical suites.

When complete, this project will give the children of Mississippi a modern, friendly, welcoming place where they can receive best-practice medical care. The heartfelt goal for the Growing Campaign is to give all of Mississippi’s children a stronger chance for a full and healthy life.

The expansion is on schedule to open in fall 2020.

“We are so grateful for the friendship and support of Carl and Gigi Allen,” said Dr. LouAnn Woodward, UMMC vice chancellor for health affairs and dean of the School of Medicine. “Three times in three years the Allens have demonstrated the value they place on the health of Mississippi’s children.”

Sanderson Farms CEO and board chairman Joe Sanderson Jr. and his wife, Kathy, who chair the Campaign for Children’s of Mississippi, helped launch the effort in 2016 with a $10 million personal pledge. With last night’s announcement from Allen, the Growing Campaign has raised more than 76 percent of the $100 million goal. To get more information about the campaign or make a gift, visit growchildrens.org.

“Kathy and I along with everyone at Sanderson Farms are incredibly grateful to Carl and Gigi Allen for their ongoing commitment to Mississippi’s children,” said Joe Sanderson. “Carl and Gigi came to Jackson three years ago and visited the hospital, where they were touched by the children they saw and felt compelled to make a difference here.”

The Sanderson Farms Championship, Mississippi’s only PGA TOUR event, is being hosted at The Country Club of Jackson this week by Century Club Charities. Funds raised through the tournament are donated to Friends of Children’s Hospital, among other Mississippi charities.

Tournament play for the 2019 Sanderson Farms Championship begins this Thursday, September 19, and runs through Sunday, September 22.

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