The McLeod Health Foundation is pleased to announce that its Annual Employee Campaign has reached an historic level of giving with more than $1 million raised for patient services and programs.

McLeod employees pledged $1,007,718 for 2016, demonstrating how dedicated they are to serving patients in ways beyond their job description. The donations, which total the largest amount for a single Employee Campaign in the history of the McLeod Foundation, will benefit the McLeod Cancer Center, Hospice Services, Children’s Hospital, Guest House, and many other programs that the Foundation funds to care for the well-being of people living in the 15-county region McLeod Health serves.

Janice McKenzie, an accountant in the McLeod Health Finance Department and long-time donor to the McLeod Foundation, has personally seen these programs at work. “I have had friends who were patients at the Cancer Center and received hospice care from McLeod,” McKenzie explained. “Seeing the care and compassion they experienced has inspired me to give to the McLeod Foundation.”

“This support greatly enhances the outstanding level of care for which McLeod Health is known,” said Jill Bramblett, Executive Director for the McLeod Foundation. “Many services and programs would not be available without the support of our own people who give from their hearts to make a difference for our patients.”

Some employees, like Sonny Usher, Director of Cardiology Services at McLeod Health Cheraw, are motivated to give to the McLeod Foundation because of what McLeod has done for them in the past.

“I was an adult nursing student with a wife and child when McLeod gave me a scholarship to pay for school. This support took away much of the stress that comes with raising a family while attending college,” said Usher. “McLeod did not have to give me this support. They did not know me, yet they always treated me as part of the family. I will always be grateful for what McLeod has done for my family and me.”

Celebrating 30 years of giving, the McLeod Health Foundation was established in 1986 to help generate philanthropic and community support for McLeod Health. Since that time, the Foundation has raised more than $52 million, with McLeod employees — the Foundation’s largest contributors — providing more than $8 million. The importance of this support from a very generous community is evident in many of the projects and programs funded by the McLeod Foundation such as the only remaining hospital-based Cancer Clinic in the state; the McLeod Hospice House; the McLeod Mobile Mammography Unit; the McLeod HeartReach and ChildReach ambulances and the Guest House at McLeod.