Sanderson Farms Championship Earns “Best Of” Award During PGA TOUR Tournament Meetings
PGA TOUR event wins “Best Charity Integration” for second consecutive year
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA – The 2018 Sanderson Farms Championship (Jackson, Mississippi) was honored by the PGA TOUR at the TOUR’s Tournament Meetings on November 20.
For the second consecutive year, the Sanderson Farms Championship, held at The Country Club of Jackson, earned an award for “Best Charity Integration.”
“On behalf of the PGA TOUR, I am thrilled to congratulate the Sanderson Farms Championship on being recognized with a “Best Of” award for the 2018-19 PGA TOUR Season,” said Chief Tournaments and Competitions Officer Andy Pazder. “The tournament committee and title sponsor Sanderson Farms should be extremely proud of their collaborative efforts and for being celebrated as top among their peers on TOUR.”
The “Best Charity Integration” award recognizes the tournament that incorporates the tournament’s charity and theme into all facets of the event. Through onsite activation, year-round community initiatives, and title sponsor engagement, the Sanderson Farms Championship is united around the charitable goal – to raise funds and drive awareness for Friends of Children’s Hospital, a nonprofit organization created to support Batson Children’s Hospital, part of Children’s of Mississippi and the only children’s hospital in the state. The event also generates significant funds for other child-focused charities each year.
Batson Children’s Hospital is highly visible onsite during tournament week with patients, doctors, and nurses greeting spectators at the main entrance. Branded elements such as tickets, signage, tee markers, and client badges also help deliver the charitable message. Additionally, the title sponsor’s televised message during the Golf Channel’s broadcast, typically reserved for the sponsor CEO, was instead presented by a hospital executive.
In 2018, four PGA TOUR players made time to visit and interact with sick children at the hospital while highlighting the tournament’s charitable endeavors. Members of the PGA TOUR Wives Association also hosted a party for patients at The Country Club of Jackson, where several PGA TOUR professionals participated and engaged with the children.
The record-breaking charitable donations [$2.235 million through 2018 event] from the Sanderson Farms Championship will fund construction of a seven-story, 340,000-square-foot pediatric tower that will be home to 88 private neonatal intensive care rooms, 10 additional operating rooms, more pediatric intensive care space, a pediatric imaging center, an outpatient clinic and a new lobby. In 2016, Sanderson Farms, Inc. CEO Joe Sanderson and his wife Kathy, chairs of the $100 million fundraising campaign, personally pledged $10 million to the fund-raising campaign over a five-year period.
“We are honored to once again receive the Best Charity Integration Award,” said Sanderson Farms Championship Tournament Director, Steve Jent. “I am thrilled for our staff and constituents who work so hard all year long to make sure our state’s children who are treated at Batson Children’s Hospital are the focal point of the tournament.”
On behalf of Century Club Charities, we cannot thank enough our title sponsor, Sanderson Farms, and our other sponsors, vendors, volunteers, host, staff, board, and spectators for making this possible,” said Pat Busby, President of Century Club Charities, Inc. “The real winners are the patients, their families, and the dedicated nurses at Batson Children’s Hospital who spend their days providing miraculous care to the children of Mississippi.”
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The PGA TOUR, headquartered in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, co-sanctions more than 130 tournaments on the PGA TOUR, PGA TOUR Champions, Korn Ferry Tour, PGA TOUR Latinoamérica, Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada, and PGA TOUR Series-China. Members on the PGA TOUR represent the world’s best players, hailing from 28 countries and regions (93 members are from outside the United States). Worldwide, PGA TOUR tournaments are broadcast to 226 countries and territories in 23 languages. Virtually all tournaments are organized as non-profit organizations to maximize charitable giving. In 2018, tournaments across all Tours generated a record $190 million for local and national charitable organizations, bringing the all-time total to $2.84 billion.
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About The Sanderson Farms Championship
The Sanderson Farms Championship is an annual stop on the PGA TOUR hosted by Century Club Charities, a non-profit, 501 (C)(3) organization whose mission is to promote the game of golf for the benefit of charity. The tournament’s primary beneficiary is Friends of Children’s Hospital. The tournament has been part of the PGA TOUR schedule since 1968 and is now in its tenth year as a part of the FedExCup. Sanderson Farms (NASDAQ:SAFM), the nation’s third largest poultry producer based in Laurel, Miss., is the title sponsor.
About Century Club Charities
Century Club Charities is a not-for-profit, tax-exempt 501 (C) (3) organization whose mission is to promote the game of golf for the benefit of Mississippi charities. Since 1994, Century Club Charities has served as the host organization for Mississippi’s PGA TOUR event, helping to raise over $15 million for statewide charities.
About Sanderson Farms, Inc.
Sanderson Farms, Inc., founded in 1947, is engaged in the production, processing, marketing and distribution of fresh and frozen chicken and other prepared food items. Employing more than 17,000 employees in operations spanning five states and 17 different cities, Sanderson Farms is the third largest poultry producer in the United States. As a company, Sanderson Farms is committed to adopting a fresh approach in everything they do, not only where products are concerned, but company-wide as well. Though the company has grown in size, it still adheres to the same hometown values of honesty, integrity, and innovation that was established when the Sanderson family founded the company.
About Children’s of Mississippi
Children’s of Mississippi, part of the University of Mississippi Medical Center, encompasses all the pediatric services available at UMMC and at clinical sites throughout Mississippi. At the heart of these services is Batson Children’s Hospital, the state’s only hospital devoted exclusively to the care and treatment of sick and injured children. The Children’s of Mississippi network brings specialized clinical care for children to communities across the state, making it easier for families to get the treatment they need closer to home.