University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health receives $20 million gift at Starnight Gala – Maryland Daily Record

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University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health (UM UCH), a member organization of the University of Maryland Medical System, received the largest philanthropic donation in the organization’s history, a $20 million gift from Danny and Gail Jones, philanthropists and owners of the Jones Junction automotive business , at the health system’s biannual Starnight Gala on Nov. 2.

This investment will be used for operational or capital improvements, expansion of services to support University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health in the advancement of community health. The estate portion of this gift will create an endowment to support the behavioral/mental health and primary care program.

The new bed tower at UM Upper Chesapeake Medical Center in Bel Air will be named the Danny and Gail Jones Tower, and Upper Chesapeake Primary Care will be renamed the Danny and Gail Jones Primary Care Program at University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health. Bed tower signage will be up this week. The installation of new signs for the first aid sites will begin later.

The Joneses are Harford County natives and third generation owners of Jones Junction. For more than two decades, Jones Junction and the Jones family have made multiple donations to UM Upper Chesapeake Health totaling nearly $1 million. The Jones family’s first leadership gift supported the capital campaign to build UM Upper Chesapeake Medical Center (UM UCMC) in Bel Air. Most recently, Jones Junction and the Jones family’s philanthropy benefited Cancer LifeNet at the Kauffman Cancer Center and the Senator Bob Hooper House in Forest Hill.

At the Starnight Gala, more than 650 guests gathered at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront Hotel. In addition to announcing Jones’ philanthropic investment, the evening raised $1 million for Cancer LifeNet, a program that provides supportive care to all residents of Harford, Cecil and North Baltimore counties, regardless of where cancer is treated. Based at the Kaufman Cancer Center at UM UCMC, the program is entirely funded through philanthropy.