A former Donley County producer was honored by the National Peanut Board recently by making a donation in the name of the late Bob White to help establish the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at the Emory Food Allergy Center.
White was the former chairman of the National Peanut Board. He passed away in October 2016.
“Like other peanut farmers, Bob White took great pride in growing a nutritious and wholesome food,” said NPB President and CEO Bob Parker. “That anyone could be harmed by eating the product he grew bothered him. During his tenure on the National Peanut Board, Bob embraced efforts to find ways to prevent, treat and find a cure for peanut allergy. He would have been excited to know that NPB played a role in bringing a food allergy research center to a prestigious institution like Emory University,” said Parker.
Panhandle Peanut Growers Producers President Michael Newhouse of Clarendon also praised White’s contributions to the industry.
“There are big boots to fill that Bob left behind,” Newhouse said. “A lot of folks don’t even know what Bob did for the peanut industry on a national and international level. He had a way of bringing people together even when they disagreed, and he always did what was best for the industry and not just what was best for his personal farm.”
On a local level, Newhouse said White had served as a mentor to himself and also to other younger farmers.
Many NPB staff, former board members and Texas peanut leaders attended the event in Atlanta along with White’s wife, Pat, and daughter, Mandi Gay.
“I want to thank you for honoring my dad,” Gay wrote in a Facebook post. “I am so grateful to know that my parents were a part of such a wonderful group of people. Thank you for allowing us to be there. I am so glad I got to meet all of you and hear some of the stories from your times together. I know my mom will cherish them always.”
The new food allergy program addresses an important problem that was close to White’s heart.
“There’s a huge gap in the Southern U.S. without a world-class food allergy and treatment center,” Parker said. “Georgia being the largest producer of peanuts, it’s fitting that a world-class university like Emory has started this program here and brought in solid leadership in Dr. Brian Vickery.”
Dr. Vickery has worked on groundbreaking food allergy research at Duke University and University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. He has exceptional qualifications for patient-centered care and advancing research. Dr. Vickery acknowledged NPB’s contribution to the Center in memory of Bob White.
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