BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) The Monday Morning Quarterback Club of Birmingham has pledged $8 million for the construction of a new Children’s Hospital.

The nonprofit’s leaders announced the pledge to its 550 members at the club’s meeting in downtown Birmingham. Officials said the $8 million pledge will be given over multiple years starting in 2010.

The gift is the largest in the Quarterback Club’s 69-year history and in the 79-year history of the club’s preceding charitable foundation.

The gift also boosts the hospital’s fundraising to more than $80 million toward its $100 million capital campaign.

Children’s Hospital won state approval in October to build a $483 million replacement hospital that will connect to the current facility. Construction of the 12-story, 720,000-sq.-ft. hospital will begin in late spring or early summer.

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