CLARKSDALE, MS NOVEMBER 2024—Donors Jimmy Walker, Sr. and Helen Walker spoke to the Board and Staff about the mission behind starting a $1 million dollar endowment with the Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi.
Jimmy was raised in the Mississippi Delta on a farm in Quitman County, went to the Army and was stationed at Fort Campbell Kentucky where he met his wife Helen of 66 years. The two moved back to Mississippi after their marriage where Jimmy first took a job for very little pay to make his start in the welding and gas supply industry. They started out very slim financially. Jimmy jokes that they were so poor that they could have used help from a donor like them back in the day. He worked that job for around 10 years while they lived in an old house trailer. That was in 1958. One day, Jimmy decided to take a leap of faith and started his own business, Walker Welders Supply Co., which grew exponentially in just a few decades. In 1995, Jimmy and Helen decided to sell Walker Welders and put the money from the sale into a new business called Saf-T-Cart which is now a world-class manufacturing company that produces anything to carry or handle compressed gas. Jimmy says Saf-T-Cart “revolutionized the distribution of compressed gas” in many ways, setting the stage for industry progress. The company jumpstarted from a patented product and continued to be the first to develop several key inventions in the industry. For example, they were early in the manufacturing of pallets to transport cylinders of compressed gas.
To capture the rapid growth and life transition that the Walkers experienced, imagine going from running a business in a house trailer to managing a 200,000 square foot facility, hosting a second location in North Carolina, and working with clients from national and international corporations. This year, the company made 65 trailers and over 100 trucks aside from the full-time products they typically create. Jimmy Sr. says this year will be their biggest year yet.
Jimmy emphasizes that the business was “built on relationships…we may not be the biggest kid on the block, but all of our customers know us and know we will take care of them.” Becky Nowell, current Board Member, says, “I grew up in Clarksdale, and they are the same people today as they were back then.” With five children, ten grandchildren and several great grandchildren, Saf-T-Cart continues to be a family business. Several of Jimmy and Helen Walker’s children and grandchildren work for the company, carrying on the Walker legacy and work ethic.
With the great success the company has had over the years, Jimmy and Helen have contributed to causes that matter. One project they have been involved in is the Sunflower Center, a rehabilitation facility in Coahoma County that has helped dozens of individuals through recovery. The Sunflower Center was an old schoolhouse in Dublin that they bought and transformed. Now, Jimmy and Helen have decided to give back in a new way through the Community Foundation.
The relationship that Jimmy and Helen made with the Community Foundation began with Keith Fulcher and Delta State University in 1999 with a donation to help purchase the historic Cutrer property. They attended the Community Foundation’s fundraising event at Ground Zero in 2019, Delta Directions Forum in 2024, and have donated to Coahoma County nonprofits for years. Learning of the Community Foundation’s mission for helping the Mississippi Delta, the Walkers made the decision to create a $1 million dollar endowment at the Community Foundation, a fund whose benefits will be directed primarily to education. With this, Jimmy and Helen plan to fund youth projects such as mission trips.
In addition to creating a $1 million dollar endowment, the Walkers received a 25% State of Mississippi tax credit. Board Chair, Ann H. Lamar of Tate County says, ” We are honored Jimmy and Helen chose to use the services of the Community Foundation to meet their philanthropic goals.”
The Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi is an independent 501(c)3 charitable organization with offices in Hernando and Clarksdale, Mississippi and was established in 2002 with a generous grant from the Maddox Foundation. The Foundation manages 300 donor-established funds and has disbursed over $45 million to support more than 800 charitable programs. The Foundation serves Bolivar, Coahoma, DeSoto, Leflore, Marshall, Panola, Quitman, Sunflower, Tallahatchie, Tate, and Tunica counties and is governed by a Board of 20 Volunteer Civic Leaders from the region. To receive a print copy of the Philanthropy Report please send an e-mail to info@cfnm.org or call 662-449-5002 or stop by the Hernando office On the Square at 315 Losher St. For an electronic version visit CFNM Annual Report 2023. To follow the Foundation on social media and for more information, scan the QR Code.