Mississippi Loggers Association has towering record of support for Children’s of Mississippi
By: Annie Oeth, aoeth@umc.edu
Mississippi’s forests are a source of growing support for the state’s only children’s hospital. In 2024, the Mississippi Loggers Association raised a record $320,050 for Children’s of Mississippi through the Log-A-Load for Kids campaign, leading the country in donations to Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.
Since 1994, more than $2.6 million has been donated through the Mississippi Loggers Association effort.
“The Mississippi Loggers Association has a heart for children and families,” said David Livingston, the association’s executive director. “We’ve supported Children’s of Mississippi through donations and the Log-A-Load for Kids program since 1994. The association is the largest single donor to Log-A-Load for Kids nationally, something we are very proud of.”
Mississippi, with its 19.3 million acres of forests, is ranked third among timber producers in the Southeast. Forestry accounts for 4% of all jobs in the state, nearly 68,000 positions.
Log-A-Load For Kids, a national fundraising initiative, has loggers and forest industry professionals around the country donating the value of a load of logs—or any amount—to local Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.
“That was the start of it,” Livingston said. “Log-A-Load For Kids now includes fundraisers and donations including auctions, sporting clay shoots, and the Mid South Forestry Equipment Show.”
Since 1988, loggers across America have raised more than $60 million through Log A Load for Kids.
Headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals leads efforts to improve children’s health care through its network of 170 partner hospitals.
“The Mississippi Loggers Association couldn’t raise the funds we do for Children’s of Mississippi without our volunteers,” Livingston said.
One of those volunteers is Roy Holder of Richton, who was named Volunteer of the Year in 2024 by the Log A Load For Kids Charity at the American Loggers Council Annual meeting this past October. Holder, commodity manager at Enviva’s Lucedale facility and an auctioneer, has worked in the timber industry throughout his adult life, honing professional skills while cultivating a deep sense of community and philanthropy.
“The Lord not only blessed me with this talent of auctioneering but also blessed my family as well. It is an honor that we can give something back through the Log-A-Load For Kids charity to benefit the children of Mississippi," he said. “My family and I are looking forward to more blessing for the Log-A-Load For Kids because our children in Mississippi are the true winners!”
"Roy and his family have been helping the Log-A-Load For Kids charity for over 20 years,” Livingston said. “His dedication was one of the determining factors in him receiving this huge honor. Roy, his wife, Carmen, brother Mark and his wife, Leslie, helped the Mississippi Loggers Association Log-A-Load For Kids effort raise more than $2.6 million through the end of 2024 as well as raising hundreds of thousands of dollars at the national Log A Load events from coast to coast.”
Holder, a popular auctioneer, and his family have traveled the country doing benefit auctions.
“Roy has sold chainsaws for more than $30,000 with his unique style of ‘Sell it again,’” Livingston said. “Roy has sold a double-bit axe for over $3,500 and a one-of-a-kind Henry rifle for over $6,000. The list goes on and on. We in Mississippi are blessed to have people like Roy and his family and that they have continued to see the need and help the Mississippi Loggers Association Log-A-Load For Kids charity. Any time we’ve needed something; he’s always been there.”
The inspiration for these gifts over the years has been the children who receive care at Children’s of Mississippi. Children’s, which includes a children’s hospital in Jackson and a network of specialty clinics around the state, served more than 200,000 children in the 2024 fiscal year.
“Most Mississippians are either related to someone or know someone whose children have been cared for at Children’s of Mississippi,” said Livingston. “We’ve gotten phone calls from families of Children’s of Mississippi patients thanking the Mississippi Loggers Association for our support, and we’re grateful that children can get the care they need right here in Mississippi.”
Children’s of Mississippi is thankful for the generosity of Mississippi’s loggers, said Jen Hospodor, senior director of strategic partnerships at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.
“Not only is forestry and logging essential to Mississippi’s economy, but the Mississippi Loggers Association has been dedicated to supporting the state’s only children’s hospital for more than three decades,” she said. “We are so grateful to them for the difference they are making in the lives of our patients and their families.”