Our Donors: Campaign leader Eli Manning wins 2020 Bart Starr Award

Published on Monday, April 13, 2020

By: Annie Oeth, aoeth@umc.edu

NFL great Eli Manning, longtime supporter of Children’s of Mississippi, is the winner of the 2020 Athletes in Action/Bart Starr Award. Manning recently retired from the league as quarterback of the New York Giants.

The honor is given to the NFL player who best exemplifies outstanding character and leadership in the home, on the field, and in the community. The league’s players decided the winner from 10 finalists, according to Associated Press reports.

Manning and his wife, Abby, are honorary chairs of the $100 million drive to bring Children’s of Mississippi’s pediatric expansion to completion. They have also donated in excess of $1 million to the effort.

Manning, a University of Mississippi alumnus who has quarterbacked the Giants to two Super Bowl victories, has already scored for pediatric care at UMMC once before, raising more than $2.5 million in partnership with Friends of Children’s Hospital to open the Eli Manning Children’s Clinics at Batson Children’s Hospital. The clinics opened in 2009.

Manning also helps charities in the New York area, including Hackensack University Medical Center and New York March for Babies. He also supports the Tackle Kids Cancer Initiative, Guiding Eyes for the Blind, the American Red Cross, Scholastic’s Classroom Care Program, and the PeyBack Foundation. Eli Manning and his wife, Abby, are honorary chairs of the Campaign for Children’s of Mississippi.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Manning offered encouragement to the UMMC care team through a YouTube video.