Family Spotlight

COTA Families Nationwide are Grateful for Organ and Tissue Donors

The Southern family has been directly touched by the gift of life for their son -- a new kidney.  Yet that miracle is bittersweet as the Southerns wait for the time when another selfless act will be necessary to save their daughter’s life as well.  According to Marisa Southern, Matthew and Kathryn’s mom, “Following the diagnosis of both of our children with nephronopthesis, we were devastated.”

Marisa and Tommy Southern learned of the diagnosis in early 2010.  That diagnosis
lead to the realization that Matthew’s and Kathryn’s only chance for survival would be kidney transplants.  None of this was easy news for the Southerns to hear about their beloved teenagers. 

Over a period of four months, transplant evaluations were done and the family started working with the Children’s Organ Transplant Association (COTA).  With time in short supply and their needs growing, Marisa reached out to COTA for help.

“Given that we were facing not one, but two, transplants, we reviewed all of the information that we received from the Medical University of South Carolina about various financial resources.  Then we contacted COTA to learn more,” said Marisa.  “From the first call, the staff at COTA was awesome.  The positive attitude from every staff member we encountered made us feel even more comfortable with the journey our family was facing.”

Since the diagnosis just over two years ago, the family has been juggling weekly lab work and multiple medical appointments.  Kathryn is being followed every three months with lab work and she takes several medications to manage the symptoms of her condition.  Matthew’s condition was much further advanced at the time of diagnosis.  He immediately underwent multiple tests and visits to specialists. 

By August 2010, he was placed on the organ waiting list.  On November 21st they received ‘the call’ telling them that a kidney had become available for Matthew and that it was a perfect match.  Matthew received this gift of life on November 22, 2010, and things went so well that he was discharged to go home two weeks following the transplant.

“Throughout these stressful times, COTA provided much-needed hope for our kids’ futures.  Fundraising for current and future transplant-related expenses has been a huge relief for us and has allowed us to concentrate on their needs.”

“So many miracles occurred for us since their diagnosis and treatment, including the amazing support COTA provided to our family and friends throughout community fundraising efforts.  Ultimately, Matthew has received the miracle of new life and we wait for another miracle … this time for Kathryn.”

The Southerns are forever grateful to the family who gave Matthew the ultimate gift --
the gift of life.  And they wait for Kathryn to receive that same gift from yet another
donor family.

Please visit www.cota.org and select “Find a COTA Family” to locate a transplant family in your area needing financial and/or volunteer assistance.  

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Giving Options

$10 Donation A Quarter Century Ago ... Today A COTA Estate Gift

Rebecca Wampler of Bourbon, Indiana, is a person you always want on your side.  This compassionate neighbor, caregiver, wife, advocate, business owner, friend, and mother-in-law has spent her life making sure others come first.  Her commitment to the Children's Organ Transplant Association (COTA) is no different.

Several years ago she and her husband, Don, were hit with devastating news -- their daughter-in-law Lowellita had been battling Cystic Fibrosis (CF) for most of her life and she was desperately in need of a lung transplant to survive.  Lowellita and their son, Travis, were the parents of two boys, Daric and Brandt, and Rebecca made a commitment to do anything she could to keep this family together ...
and healthy.

Through hours of website searches educating herself on Lowellita's disease and the lung transplant she needed, Rebecca found COTA's website, www.cota.org.  "So many websites I went to wanted money to find a cure for CF, but I kept searching until I found an organization that actually wanted to help her, our son and our grandkids," Rebecca said.  "When I happened upon the COTA website, I remembered a family from Indiana who was raising money for their baby's liver transplant ... I also remembered that over 25 years ago I put a $10 bill in a canister to try and save that baby's life."

"COTA was founded in 1986 when one child from Bloomington, Indiana, needed a liver transplant to survive," said Rick Lofgren, COTA’s President.  "The community rallied and raised more than $100,000 in two months' time for this little boy.  Sadly, he died before a liver became available, but their efforts were not in vain."  

That $100,000 launched the Children's Organ Transplant Association.

Nearly 20 years later, after putting $10 in the COTA canister, Rebecca found herself calling COTA to find help for her family.  In 2005 Rebecca rallied neighbors and family members and launched a COTA campaign in honor of her daughter-in-law, Lowellita Miller.  Rebecca remembers planning and organizing silent auctions, white elephant sales, Pizza Hut nights, ice cream socials ... you name it; Northeastern Indiana friends and family planned it ... to raise funds for COTA, and ultimately for Lowellita's second chance at life.

Even with Rebecca leading the team to raise funds and leading a fight to reverse a ruling that denied coverage when their military benefit program canceled her son's family's insurance coverage, Lowellita did not make it to transplant.  Lowellita became very sick very quickly and while she was on a trip to a Florida beach with her sons, she passed away at age 38.

"Don and I believe strongly in the Children's Organ Transplant Association.  We believe that working for COTA and supporting COTA is our mission," Rebecca said.  Rebecca and Don have joined The Hope Society, a group of contributors who make gifts to COTA through estate planning.

"We are all moving on as a family since Lowellita's passing," Rebecca said.  "Upon our deaths, a percentage of our estate will go to COTA.  This estate gift is a way for us to always stay connected to Lowellita, and that is very important to us.  The legacy of COTA will forever live in our family."

"And the legacy of Rebecca and Don, and the entire Wampler family, and their unwavering commitment to care for others, will live on within the larger COTA family as well," COTA President Lofgren added.

If you would like additional information about planned gift vehicles so you can also make a significant gift to benefit COTA patients, please contact Rick Lofgren, CFRE, at 800-366-2682 or at rick@cota.org.

There is no obligation to request the information, and the material is personal and is not shared with anyone. You can visit the COTA estate planning website or review sample bequest language.

This article is for information purposes and is not binding tax or legal advice. Please consult with your tax advisor for specific items to discover how they impact your situation.

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Ways You Can Help

Write a Letter … Save a Life

Writing a ‘Letter to the Editor’ is an easy way to make a difference in your community.  COTA has streamlined the process by providing a template that you can replicate, sign and submit to your local newspapers to help heighten COTA’s organ and tissue donor awareness efforts throughout the 30 days of April. 

Here are some general guidelines to keep in mind:

• Visit your newspapers’ websites to determine their preferred method for submitting Letters to the Editor.  In most cases, there will be a specific email address to which you need to send the letter.  In some cases, you may need to copy your letter and then paste it in a “box” provided on the newspaper’s website.
• Always include your complete contact information so the newspaper can verify the letter.  Use your real name -- newspapers will not accept anonymous letters.
• Please carefully proofread and check the spelling of your letter.  Typographical errors can undermine your credibility.

Smaller newspapers are more likely to print your letter and spark community interest.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

April 2012

Dear Editor:

The Children’s Organ Transplant Association (COTA) was founded in 1986 when residents of Bloomington, Indiana, rallied around a little boy who needed a life-saving liver transplant.  In less than eight weeks, the community raised $100,000 to place this little boy on the organ waiting list and, sadly, he died before an organ became available.  Those community volunteers, along with his parents, turned tragedy to triumph by using the funds they raised to help other transplant families. That was the beginning of COTA, and those volunteers were COTA’s first Miracle Makers. 

Since 1986, COTA has assisted more than 1,800 patients and has helped raise nearly $65 million for transplant-related expenses.  COTA has built extensive volunteer networks across the nation in an attempt to ensure that no child or young adult needing an organ or tissue transplant is excluded from a transplant waiting list due to a lack of funds. 

COTA needs your help to make sure that tragedies, like the one that was the catalyst in founding COTA, are not repeated. 

Every day 19 people die waiting for an organ transplant.  April is National Donate Life Month.  Take time this month to encourage others to register to become an organ donor.  They can do this by taking three simple steps: register to be an organ donor through each person’s state Department of Motor Vehicles or fill out an organ donor card, express their wish to be a donor to family members, and carry an organ donor card at all times.

Please go to www.cota.org to learn how you can give hope and make a miracle throughout the month of April.

Sincerely,

Your name goes here
COTA Miracle Maker
Your email address goes here

For more ideas on ways you can help raise funds for COTA on behalf of a patient in your area, learn what other Miracle Makers are doing or how you can give hope to a transplant family, please contact Doug Lippert, Director of Development, at MiracleMakerInfo@cota.org or by calling 800.366.2682, extension 225.

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COTA News

The Best Birthday Gift of All … A Best Friend

Anna Marie did receive blessings and donations from more than 29 different states and from as far away as Bangalore, India.  Anna was able to fill a big gift box containing over 1,000 cards and blessings for her best friend, Kristen.  And there were donations!   Due to Anna Marie’s birthday wish, over $20,000 was raised for COTA in honor of Kristen.  Anna Marie said she has truly been amazed and blessed by the love and support shown from people who have never met her or Kristen.

The COTA for Kristen H team of volunteers says:  Thank you, Anna Marie, for allowing your birthday to be used to make such a wonderful difference in Kristen’s life.  This has touched many people and we appreciate that Anna Marie and Kristen would share their friendship with us all in this wonderful way.  We have heard from so many people about how much this has touched their hearts.  And also, a thank you to each and every one who had a part in this amazing campaign.  If you had any part in it at all, sharing the information via Facebook, or by email, linking to the ABC news video, sending donations, sending blessings -- anything at all; we want to thank you.  You have been a part of this truly incredible thing that has happened with a friendship and a simple birthday wish.

You can click here to learn more about Kristen’s transplant journey www.COTAforKristenH.com. 

The power of one voice, multiplied a thousand times … a message that was heard around the world.  

What idea do you have that, when planted, will blossom like Anna Marie’s on behalf of a COTA child or young adult who needs a second chance at life?

For ideas on how you can become a Miracle Maker, like Anna Marie, to help a COTA family near you, please contact Doug Lippert, COTA’s Director of Development, at MiracleMakerInfo@cota.org or by calling 800.366.2682, extension 225.

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Welcome to the COTA Family

These children and young adults are recent additions to our COTA Family. Please contact COTA, or the individual Community Coordinators listed at each COTA website (links provided below), if you would like to assist any of these fundraising campaigns.

	Born on September 4, 2006, Isabella Crutcher was diagnosed with renal failure. The doctors at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital in Palo Alto, California, have recommended a life-saving kidney transplant. An estimated $100,000 is being raised by COTA for Isabella C volunteers in Turlock, California.
	Born on April 5, 2006, Fred Drew was diagnosed with diamond blackfan anemia. The doctors at Seattle Children's Hospital in Seattle, Washington, have recommended a life-saving stem cell transplant. An estimated $75,000 is being raised by COTA for Fred D volunteers in Columbus, Ohio.
	Born on May 7, 2001, Ashlynn Griffin was diagnosed with stage four kidney failure. The doctors at Seattle Children's Hospital in Seattle, Washington, have recommended a life-saving kidney transplant. An estimated $25,000 is being raised by COTA for Ashlynn G volunteers in Richland, Washington.
	Born on September 15, 2011, Lindee Neat was diagnosed with left ventricular pulmonary atresia. The doctors at Children's Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, have recommended a life-saving heart transplant. An estimated $60,000 is being raised by COTA for Lindee N volunteers in Batavia, Ohio.
	Born on May 14, 2002, Malaysia Suggs was diagnosed with coronary stenosis. The doctors at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, have recommended a life-saving heart transplant. An estimated $25,000 is being raised by COTA for Malaysia S volunteers in Greenville, North Carolina.
	Born on March 23, 1984, Deanna Gutowski was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. The doctors at University of North Carolina Hospitals in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, have recommended a life-saving double lung transplant. An estimated $70,000 is being raised by COTA for Deanna G volunteers in Raleigh, North Carolina, and in Twinsburg, Ohio.

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COTA Fast Fact

Funds Available for Transplant-Related Expenses
100% of the funds raised through the Children's Organ Transplant Association in
honor of patients are available for transplant-related expenses before, during and after
the transplant.

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