Professional Logging Contractors (PLC) of the Northeast Log A Load for Kids effort raises record $297,519 in 2024
AUGUSTA, ME – The Professional Logging Contractors (PLC) of the Northeast raised a record $297,519 for Children’s Miracle Network (CMN) Hospitals in 2024 through its annual Log A Load for Kids fundraising efforts.
The total shattered the previous record set in 2023 of $287,691, with the PLC’s two Log A Load golf tournaments and the Log A Load live auction at the PLC’s 2024 annual meeting raising most of the funds.
“It is remarkable that in a year which brought unprecedented weather and market challenges to the Northeast’s logging industry that the PLC’s Members, Supporting Members, friends, and families still rallied to raise a record amount for Children’s Miracle Network hospitals,” Dana Doran, Executive Director of the PLC, said. “This group never wavers in its support for these children and their families, and everyone should take great pride in this accomplishment.”
On Jan. 24, Doran presented a check for the funds to representatives from Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, ME and MaineHealth Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital in Portland, ME. A representative from University of Vermont (UVM) Children’s Hospital in Burlington, VT was unable to attend. The check was presented at the PLC’s office in Augusta. Those accepting the check on behalf of the hospitals were Kelly Pearson, Director of Philanthropy, Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center; and Kate Richardson, Senior Philanthropy Manager for MaineHealth Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital (MHBBCH).
“I’ve had the opportunity to work with the Professional Logging Contractors of the Northeast for more than ten years, and every year I’m inspired by how the organization – it’s employees and its members – come together to help kids, their families, and the doctors and nurses who care for them,” Pearson said. “We wouldn’t have the resources our team needs without the generous support from Maine’s forest products industry. On behalf of the team at Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center, my heartfelt thanks.”
“We are deeply grateful to the logging community for their extraordinary generosity and commitment to supporting our local children’s hospitals through the Log A Load for Kids program,” Richardson said. “Their record-breaking fundraising efforts not only demonstrate the power of community but also ensure that countless children and families will receive the care they need right here in Maine.”
“The generous support of this community ensures we can continue to provide the highest quality, family-centered care to all patients served at UVM Children’s Hospital,” Tatiana Rodecker, Community Fundraising Supervisor for UVM Children’s Hospital, said. “The fundraising efforts of the PLC of the Northeast will have a lasting impact on kids treated all across our region, and we are so grateful!”
The PLC’s Log A Load efforts have now raised more than $2.4 million since 1995.
The PLC raises the majority of Log A Load funds each year during an auction at its annual meeting in the spring and at golf tournaments in August and September. Additional funds are raised through the sale of items including PLC holiday ornaments.
This year, the PLC’s 30th Anniversary Annual Meeting on May 8-9 will include a live Log A Load Auction. The annual PLC Log A Load golf tournaments are also planned for Aug. 22 at Lake Kezar Country Club in Lovell, ME; and Sept. 12 at JATO Highlands Golf Course in Lincoln, ME.
The PLC and the Northern Light Health Foundation (formerly Eastern Maine Health Systems Foundation) have partnered in the Log A Load fund-raising effort since 1996. Donations have gone to support research and training, purchase equipment, and pay for uncompensated care, all in support of the mission to save and improve the lives of as many children in Maine as possible. Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor is a CMN hospital and includes a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit that has received support for years from the PLC’s Log A Load efforts. The PLC has partnered in the effort with MaineHealth Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital in Portland since 2019. In 2024, the PLC began partnering with UVM Children’s Hospital as well and raised funds at the PLC Annual Meeting dedicated to the hospital. Additional Log A Load fund-raising efforts in Vermont are planned.
Log A Load for Kids is an annual campaign which began in 1988 when loggers and others in the forest products community began donating the value of a load of logs to their local CMN hospital. Today, Log A Load is a leader in CMN Hospitals’ fundraising, raising more than $2 million annually through golf tournaments, fishing events, dinners, truckloads of log donations, and other events. For more information, please visit www.logaload.org
Founded in Maine in 1995 by a handful of loggers who were concerned about the future of the forest economy, the PLC has grown steadily to become a regional non-profit which provides independent logging and trucking contractors a voice along with a suite of other forest certification programs which are grounded in responsible forest management.
Learn more about the PLC at www.plcloggers.org
