The president of the Vicksburg-Warren Humane Society said it’s always an adventure to check the mail for envelopes that might contain donations. Friday, however, Georgia Lynn had her socks knocked off.

An envelope from BancorpSouth opened that morning contained a check for almost $50,000 — more than 10 percent of the total cost of a major shelter expansion the society has been planning.

“I just thank God I was sitting down,” Lynn said.

Although the organization has received major gifts in the past, Lynn said the $49,965.90 check was the largest in her four years as president. The previous record, she said, was $500.

“I just kind of wandered around in a daze for about an hour,” Lynn said.

The money came from the estate of Robert Cox, who died on Aug. 13, 1997. While Lynn had never met Cox, she said the name was familiar. The humane society had been receiving quarterly checks from his estate for the 10 years since he died. However, those checks often amounted to $150 to $275.

A letter of explanation from BancorpSouth that came with the check explained the difference. Cox’s will directed that a trust be created and that periodic payments be made annually for a decade. Then, the trust was to be dissolved with remaining amounts paid in shares to the humane society and two other beneficiaries, the Mississippi Animal Rescue League of Jackson and the Mississippi Sheriff’s Boys and Girls Ranch of Columbus.

Landy Teller was the attorney overseeing the trust and was also a long-time friend of Cox.

Teller described Cox, a former engineer with Waterways Experiment Station who died at the age of 86, and his wife, Mildred, as strong believers of people having pets and helping animals in need. Teller said the couple had no close relatives, and therefore it seemed fitting to Cox to leave money for a cause he and his wife found worthy.

“And this donation couldn’t have come at a better time,” Lynn said.

The humane society is planning an addition to its current 2,400-square-foot facility east of Vicksburg Municipal Airport. Lynn said the proposed 3,700-square-foot addition has already been designed, and the organization is just waiting for the funding to fall into place. She said the projected cost of the addition is $462,500 and the Cox donation brought their available funds for the project to $315,000.

The donation from the Cox trust will join a $15,000 grant from the Humane Society of the United States on Thursday, at which time Wayne Pacelle, CEO and president of the national organization, will tour Vicksburg’s facilities.

“This is exactly what our humane society needs.” Lynn said. “But we need more help to get this addition that our community desperately needs.”

The humane society is a private organization that has seen periods of turmoil in its existence here. It was operated on gifts and donations along with adoption fee income until about four years ago when a contract was signed with the Warren County Board of Supervisors. Under that arrangement, the society is paid $125,000 annually to provide services stipulated in the county’s animal control ordinance. The City of Vicksburg has a separate animal control ordinance, staff and impoundment facilities.