Page 16 - Tree Line - North Carolina Forestry Association - Fourth Quarter 2023

REAL IMPACT FOR KIDS
Eastern NC Forestry Community Raises
$2.6 Million for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals®
By Mike Powell,
Director of Forestry Programs
Log a Load for Kids started in 1988, when the South Carolina Forestry Association offered to partner with the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals® (CMNH) telethon to raise money for the hospital. Flash forward 35 years: 39 states have Log a Load programs supporting CMNH.
The Log a Load organization raises approximately $2 million annually and has donated more than $44 million since 1988.
The concept behind the Log a Load charity began with loggers and forestry-related businesses donating the equivalent of the value of a load of logs to a nearby CMNH hospital.
The NCFA and its members have been proud to be associated with this impactful program, especially right here in North Carolina. I sat down with several members of the organizing committee — Earl Dail, Mike Marks, and Buddy Shavender — who have all been involved in the Eastern NC Chapter of Log a Load for Kids since 1996. The committee is passionate about this cause, which was clear when the members discussed the work that they undertake each year to make this event a success.
Locally, Log a Load for Kids has a signature annual event, Sporting Clays for Kids, which is held at Hunter’s Point in Washington, NC. This clay shoot attracts folks from every corner of the state. The chapter started out raising close to $7,000 in
the inaugural Sporting Clays Miracle Shoot, and through hard work and dedication, raised more than $120,000 in 2023. Since
14 ncforestry.org / FOURTH QUARTER 2023