Healthy Learners

Major Donors & Sponsors


"No one can doubt the importance of helping children in South Carolina get the right start — for their health and their education. BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina is proud to support Healthy Learners and its efforts to do both: provide basic medical services for uninsured children that will also help them be better learners at school."
- David Pankau, BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina, President and CEO


"Colonial's commitment to helping families bridge the gap in medical coverage makes Healthy Learners a perfect fit for our organization," says Colonial President and CEO Randy Horn." "We are also committed to improving the quality of life in our community. By giving the children in South Carolina who have no medical coverage the necessary medical assistance needed to achieve success in the classroom, Healthy Learners is helping to ensure the well-being of our future leaders and our community and state."
- Randy Horn, Colonial President and CEO


"Healthy Learners touches the lives of South Carolina's most precious resource-our children. By providing free services to children who cannot afford medical care, the staff and providers of Healthy Learners quietly extend the mission of the Sisters of Charity Health System. Providence is proud to have established this important ministry in 1992. We will continue to support Healthy Learners as it expands its outreach to serve even an ever growing number of children in need."
- Sister Judith Ann Karam, CSA, President and CEO, Sisters of Charity Health System


"As the President and CEO of Providence Hospitals, I am proud to continue supporting the mission and vision of Healthy Learners, which was established by Providence Hospitals in 1992.  Healthy Learners meets a critical need for uninsured and underinsured children in South Carolina.  As a member of the Sisters of Charity family, together Providence Hospitals and Healthy Learners works closely to insure quality access to health care is available for all of South Carolina's citizens."
- George Zara, President and CEO, Sisters of Charity Providence Hospitals


"Education is fundamental for all of South Carolina’s children.  But, even the best teacher in the best school can’t teach a child who is in poor health due to lack of access to medical care.  Healthy Learners recognizes this connection and works with schools across the state to provide care for hard-working families who are often forced into impossible choices like whether to pay for eyeglasses or food.  And, it does not stop there.  For many, Healthy Learners provides life-saving, preventative care.  We're proud to support Healthy Learners and the dozens of providers who care for our most vulnerable children."
-John Sowards, Chairman of the Board, Nexsen Pruet, LLC


"The Healthy Learners program has developed a magnificent model to help school-aged children that do not have many health care options. The Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina is honored to support this work and the outreach it provides to many underserved young people in our state. Helping one child perform better in school through improved health can pay lifelong dividends."
-Thomas C. Keith, Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina Executive Director


"Improving education is a key to solving so many of the challenges facing our community today. Self Regional Healthcare appreciates Healthy Learners' work to better the health and well-being of school children, especially those facing economic disadvantages. We feel this is vital if our hospital is to continue its progress toward our goal of a healthier Greenwood and Lakelands region."
-James A. Pfeiffer, President & CEO, Self Regional Healthcare


"More than 60% of our students in Georgetown County receive free and reduced lunch.  This sobering statistic indicates that many of the children in our community not only meet the federal guidelines for excessive poverty levels, but more than likely they also lack for many of the basics that most middle class families take for granted like health and dental care.  Poor health can be a real barrier to academic success, and the Bunnelle Foundation hopes that partnering with Healthy Learners, the Georgetown County School District and the Georgetown Hospital System will help remove these unnecessary barriers to learning for our local youth.  A vital portion of the Bunnelle Foundation's mission is to encourage positive youth development and we hope that through the intervention of Healthy Learners in these young lives we will be able to do just that."
-Geales Sands, Executive Director for the Bunnelle Foundation


"Support for Healthy Learners is a natural extension of Georgetown Hospital System's ongoing and deeply-rooted efforts to help ensure access to healthcare services for our community.  It is our pleasure to partner with this important program that recognizes and works to enhance the documented relationship between the overall well-being of children and their ability to learn. Healthy children simply learn better. It may be a simple concept, but for the many disadvantaged, uninsured and underinsured children that have limited access to healthcare when it is most needed, Healthy Learners is working to help bridge the gap and make sure these children have access to the healthcare they need."
-Bruce P. Bailey, CEO, Georgetown Hospital System