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Mitchell native and NBA player Mike Miller and his wife, Jennifer, are donating $1 million to Sanford Children's Hospital. The announcement was made May 23 at the hospital's groundbreaking ceremony. The money will establish the Mike and Jennifer Endowment Fund, which will provide support for Sanford Children's Hospital. The children's hospital's pediatric intensive care unit will be named Mike and Jennifer Miller Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. "Everybody in South Dakota knows Mike as a basketball player," said Kelby Krabbenhoft, president and chief executive officer of Sanford Health. "Mike and Jen will long be remembered for their charity and philanthropy. Mike's basketball life is being used for much more than what people see. ... He and Jen are going to directly impact the lives of children and families." In January 2004, T. Denny Sanford donated $16 million for the children's hospital and a drive for matching funds raised slightly more than that. Moments before the groundbreaking ceremony, Sanford asked chief executive officers of First Premier Bank and Premier Bankcard, Dana Dykhouse and Miles Beacom, to step up their half-million dollar contributions to $1 million for the Sanford Children's Hospital. "I told them, 'You got to step up to what Mike Miller's doing,' " Sanford said in an interview after the groundbreaking. He said there was no resistance, and they were happy about the opportunity. The $52 million hospital will be completed in 2009. The facility will provide inpatient, outpatient and clinic services for pediatric patients and their families. The new building will also serve as a home base for five pediatric clinics to be built in North American in the next 10 years. Sanford said he hopes the children's hospital will become a nationwide and possibly a worldwide organization. "Why children? Why are we doing this? We all have an opportunity to invest in our neighborhoods," Sanford said during the ceremony. "I don't know a better way than for children." |
