Florida Forestry Association Supports UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital through Log A Load for Kids

Leaders of the Florida Forestry Association presented a check in the amount of $45,000 to the Children’s Miracle Network at UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital in Gainesville last week.

The money was primarily raised at the Tommy Usher Golf Classic for Log A Load for Kids, held at the Chiefland Golf & Country Club in October 2024, and will support the greatest needs of UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital.

From purchasing life-saving equipment to funding groundbreaking research or providing patient programs that would otherwise not exist, this generous donation will help advance the care possible at the non-profit children’s hospital.

“Log A Load For Kids is a nationwide giving campaign,” explained Lynetta Usher Griner. “Through fundraisers like the golf tournament and direct donations, the forestry community contributes to local hospitals affiliated with the Children’s Miracle Network (CMN) to provide medical care to children whose families cannot pay for treatment.”

“My brother, Tommy, would be proud of the difference the tournament makes in the lives of all the children and families who benefit from Log A Load for Kids,” Griner said.

The Log A Load for Kids program started in 1988, when loggers and others in forestry first donated the value of a load of logs to their local CMN hospital. Since then, Log a Load for Kids fundraising events and direct donations have raised more than $60 million for 70+ member hospitals across North America. Log A Load efforts in Florida have contributed more than $2.5 million to children’s hospitals across the state, with more than $1.3 million supporting UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital.