Jonesboro Family Gives $2M to Arkansas Children’s, $1M to Northeast Arkansas Clinic

The Parker Family holds a $2 million check to commemorate their donation to Arkansas Children's (Photo courtesy of Arkansas Children's)

Arkansas Children’s announced that it received a $2 million gift from Lynn and Don Parker of Jonesboro and their children for the pediatric care system’s expansion project. 

Additionally, the Parkers committed $1 million to the ACH Jonesboro Clinic. It’s the family’s second $1 million gift to the hospital’s northeast Arkansas location. Their first $1 million gift was given anonymously in 2019, but this time, the family publicly announced the donation in an effort to encourage others to give, ACH spokesperson Katrina Dupins said.

The funding will support the $318 million expansion project at the system’s Little Rock and Springdale locations. The expansion, announced in 2023, will expand bed capacity, transform inpatient and outpatient surgical approaches with the addition of an ambulatory center, redesign clinical spaces to promote multidisciplinary care and improve the campus experience. 

Phase one of construction on both campuses began in March and is scheduled to be completed in 2026.

Earlier this month, Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock announced that the nonprofit East North Street Foundation donated $1 million to support the hospital’s $235.2 million expansion project. As of July 22, donations to the $253.2 million expansion project at ACH totaled $12.1 million. 

The Parkers are the largest franchisees of RNR Tire Express, a national retailer for tires and custom wheels.

Lynn Parker, a member of the Arkansas Children’s Foundation board since 2018, said her family firmly believes every child deserves access to the best health care available. 

“For more than a century, Arkansas Children’s has been at the forefront of pediatric care for our state and the region,” Parker said in a news release. “As a family, we are honored to add our names to the long list of supporters of this life-saving mission. We all benefit from the impact of generosity in our community. We see it every day in the lives of children and their families.”

In the release, Fred Scarborough, executive vice president and chief development officer at Arkansas Children’s, said that the Parkers have a long history of supporting Arkansas Children’s, having given gifts to pediatric care in northeast Arkansas, northwest Arkansas and regional efforts stemming from Little Rock.

“Their volunteerism and philanthropy have helped sustain, strengthen and expand the advanced levels of medicine required for the children of Arkansas and beyond,” Parker added. “We are thrilled to have their support for the most comprehensive expansion project in our 112-year history.”