Coming from a civic-minded family, Merrily Baird has, throughout her lifetime, looked for ways to give. Those ways have varied over the years but her focus has always been on helping those who are most in need.
Foundation News
Foundation Giving Day to be Dec. 13
The Hinds Community College Foundation is hosting an online giving day on Dec. 13 to encourage employees, alumni and the community to become new donors to the college.
Mark Buys – Alumnus of the Year
Mark Buys is the kind of guy you want on your team, a guy who’s upbeat and passionate about causes most dear to his heart. For Buys (2022 Alumnus of the Year), two of those causes intersect nicely.
Ben Piazza – Alumni Service Award
As a student, Hinds Community College was a one-semester bridge for Jackson lawyer Ben Piazza from where he was to where he wanted to go. But a decade or so later, after joining the Navy and earning a law degree from the University of Mississippi in 1976, he found himself back at Hinds, this time in a professional capacity.
Pierson Waring – Young Alumnus of the Year
ierson Waring (2012) started playing baseball when he was six years old and came to Hinds in 2010 to play Eagles baseball under coaches Sam Temple and Dan Rives. Baseball has continued to play a big role in the life of the Vicksburg native, who is...
Trell Kimmons – Sports Hall of Fame
Track and Field (2005-2006)rell Kimmons of Coldwater began his story of greatness as a sprinter at Coldwater High School, where he established himself as one of the top 100-meter sprinters in the nation. He also spent time on the gridiron and was...
Kori Crutchfield Babb – Sports Hall of Fame
Kori came to Hinds in 1998 and started cementing a legacy as a player and a coach. After graduating from Vicksburg High School in 1998, Babb was a member of the 1998-1999 and 1999-2000 women’s softball team coached by Terri Black. She was also an inaugural member of the women’s soccer team in 1998 that was coached by Patti Johnson.
Antonio Wright, Sports Hall of Fame
On Feb. 2, 1997, Wright’s life changed forever when he was in a motor vehicle accident that caused him to be paralyzed from the waist down. The mission for Antonio Wright became to help youth like his late brother, Ahmad Wright, and to help those with disabilities.
James Lewis Knight – Sports Hall of Fame
Utica native James Lewis Knight came to Raymond in 1977 and made his mark at Hinds as a two-sport athlete for the football and track and field programs. During his high school days, he was crowned state champion in the long jump and was a part of several state champion relay teams.
Grady Jackson – Sports Hall of Fame
Athletic and dominant are words used by former Hinds head football coach Gene Murphy to describe Grady Jackson. Before arriving at Hinds, Jackson lettered for Greensboro High School in Greensboro, Ala.
Foundation positioned to better serve community
The Hinds Community College Foundation office has been reorganized to better serve the college as well as the community. There are new faces as well as familiar faces that are returning in new roles.