FAQ
What is Log A Load For Kids®?
Log A Load For Kids® is a nationwide giving campaign through which loggers and others contribute to local Children’s Miracle Network-affiliated hospitals to provide medical care to kids in need, regardless of their families’ ability to pay.
How did it start?
In 1988, a dedicated telethon volunteer with the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), William (Bill) Boyce, Boyce Distributors and SC Yemassee loggers Larry Connelly and his wife Carol, and Telethon Coordinator for MUSC Hospital Lorraine “Rainey” Evans, played a key role in establishing the Log A Load For Kids campaign through Children’s Miracle Network Telethon.
The basic concept of Log A Load For Kids is for loggers and wood-supplying businesses to donate the value of a load of logs, or any amount, to a nearby Children’s Miracle Network affiliated hospitals to be used in treating ill and injured children. In addition, special fund-raising events are organized by Log A Load For Kids volunteers to supplement donations to the hospitals.
The South Carolina Forestry Association took this concept and developed the first successful “Log A Load For Kids” program to raise funds for Children’s Miracle Network affiliated hospitals. Since that time the Log A Load For Kids program has spread to 27 states, and has raised nearly $30 million.
Who was the first chairman for the Log A Load For Kids Program?
Bill Boyce of Boyce Distributors and Charles Wright of Stone Container, were the first co-chairs for the South Carolina Log A Load For Kids Program. With the help of the South Carolina Forestry Association staff, Log A Load For Kids promotional materials, banners, pledge cards, operating rules and procedures and other related items were developed.
What is a state logging or forestry association?
Logging contractors, forest products businesses, and others with an interest in promoting and conserving the forest resource have formed statewide associations in states with significant forested area. These associations promote common goals, usually related to conservation, education, government relations, improving the business environment, and promoting forest products.
What is the Children’s Miracle Network?
Children’s Miracle Network (CMN) is a non-profit organization based in Salt Lake City, Utah, dedicated to saving and improving the lives of children by raising funds for children’s hospitals through organized giving campaigns. Many of these campaigns are organized through corporate organizations (such as Wal-Mart, for instance). Log A Load For Kids® is unusual in being a decentralized, volunteer-based, rather than corporate, campaign.
How do children’s hospitals benefit?
Children’s hospitals affiliated with the Children’s Miracle Network pledge to provide services regardless of a patient’s ability to pay. Contributions through Log A Load For Kids help meet the financial deficits at CMN hospitals. In addition, some Log A Load For Kids campaigns dedicate funding to special projects, such as the purchase of a piece of medical equipment, a “Life Flight” helicopter, or underwriting the expenses of a specialized clinic, or wing of the hospital.
What kind of help does Log A Load provide?
Donations may help pediatric clinics with purchases of diagnostic equipment or special programs; they may cover hospital bills for uninsured patients or kids who need treatments not covered by conventional insurance policies. Some state programs have even endowed positions for medical specialists.
What kind of fundraising campaigns?
Log A Load For Kids was originally formed to provide loggers with an opportunity to contribute the value of a load of logs, or any amount, to a local Children’s Miracle Network hospital. As the program grows, local Log A Load For Kids campaign organizers held auctions of donated items, raffles, carnival events, golf tournaments, walk-a-thons, and pledge campaigns. Ideas are only limited by the ingenuity of local Log A Load committees.
How much does Log A Load raise every year?
In 2007, the 27 states involved in Log A Load For Kids programs raised a total of $2,092,461. The first-place fundraiser in 2007 was Alabama. The 2007 total of $421,500 moved Alabama to $5.6 million in overall donations to the kids. In 1995, the Alabama Log a Load for Kids program committed $750,000 to the start-up of the Children’s Hospital Intervention and Prevention Services (CHIPS) system, Alabama’s first statewide child-abuse treatment center; and in 1999 committed $250,000 annually to support CHIPS’ day-to-day operations.
Who runs Log A Load For Kids®?
State-level campaigns are sponsored and/or organized by a state’s logging or forestry associations and staffed by volunteers; some of these state-level campaigns even have local affiliates. Members of state campaigns participate in the National Log A Load For Kids® Advisory Group, which communicates frequently to share ideas and bring alignment to local visions. In the most basic sense, however, Log A Load For Kids® is always the product of local initiative and commitment to communities. The Forest Resources Association serves as the National Log A Load For Kids sponsor organization.
How is Log A Load For Kids coordinated at the state level?
State logging or forestry association staff and committees make contact with CMN-affiliated hospitals, determine projects to be funded, and set fundraising goals for the year. They then publicize the program, organize fundraisers and arrange other giving opportunities.
How can I join a Log A Load committee?
State and local Log A Load campaigns always need volunteers to raise funds, organize events, and build visibility for Log A Load. Give your state’s Log A Load contact a call or an e-mail, and introduce yourself.
Does 100% of my contribution really go to the hospital?
Yes. Your donation goes entirely to the CMN hospital in your state. Log A Load support groups—local, state, and national—cover their overhead from other sources and rely heavily on volunteer services and in-kind contributions.
Are contributions tax deductible?
All participating hospitals are non-profit 501(c)3 organizations, so cash donations through Log A Load, which are channeled directly to the hospital, are fully tax-deductible as donations to charitable organizations. As in the case of other charitable fundraisings, contributions raised through means such as auctions or carnivals may be partially deductible, for instance, if the winning bid for an auction item exceeds the item’s assessed value.
Can I stipulate an individual CMN hospital for my donation?
Yes, one of Children's Miracle Network's founding commitments is to keep funds within the community in which they are generated. All donations go directly to Children’s Miracle Network affiliated hospitals.
How can I get my hospital enrolled?
Hospitals who are not affiliated with CMN currently can become associated with the Children’s Miracle Network by contacting CMN’s National Office:
Children's Miracle Network
205 West 700 South
Salt Lake City, Utah 84101
801.214.7400
www.childrensmiraclenetwork.org