NFT Patient Fights for Her Life

June Simpson, a devoted wife, mother and grandmother, began experiencing severe asthma attacks 15 years ago. She was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and pulmonary fibrosis in 2006. Today, she has a constant dependency on an oxygen tank. Doctors say her only hope for a second chance at life is a double lung transplant.

For most people, just hearing they need a transplant to survive is scary enough. But for June, that isn’t even the worst part. She must raise $15,000 for a deposit before she can even be added to the transplant waiting list. For a patient like June, whose health is quickly going downhill, time is critical. If she doesn’t have the deposit by May, she will never be listed. Now more than ever, June needs your help.

Please help June raise the required $15,000 so she can be placed on the transplant waiting list.

The National Foundation for Transplants (NFT) is working with volunteers and supporters to help relieve the growing burden of expenses for June and her family. Click here to make a donation in honor of June. Your gift—of $25, $50, $100 or more—will enable NFT to provide June with the financial support she desperately needs.

Did you know...

• 18 people die each day waiting for a transplant.
• Every 11 minutes, another name is added to the transplant waiting list.
• 90% of Americans say they support organ donation, yet only 35% of licensed drivers or ID card holders have enrolled in a state donor registry.
• 1 organ donor can save the lives of 8 people.
• Anyone can be an organ donor, regardless of age, race or medical history.
• All major religions in the United States support organ donation.
• Organ donors can still have open casket funerals.
• Organ donation doesn't cost the donor's family any money.
• If an individual is hospitalized, medical staff will provide the best possible care, whether or not the patient is an organ donor. In fact, the transplant team is completely separate from the medical team and won't even be called unless a patient is declared brain dead.
• Donors are needed for all ethnic groups. Transplant success rates increase when organs are matched between members of the same ethnic background.

Grant for Bone Marrow Transplant Patients

If you are a cancer patient who needs a bone marrow transplant, you certainly understand how challenging it can be to search for a matching marrow donor for that lifesaving transplant. It can be even more difficult when your insurance company will pay for the transplant, but refuses to pay for the donor search!

The National Foundation for Transplants not only helps alleviate the financial burdens of transplant patients through fundraising, but also provides grant opportunities for transplant candidates and recipients.

Through a generous partnership with The Linda Tallen and David Paul Kane Foundation for Cancer Research and Education, NFT offers a special grant for cancer patients who need a bone marrow transplant but whose insurance does not cover their donor search.

The grant allows cancer patients greater opportunities to find a bone marrow donor, awarding up to $3,000 for their donor search costs, as well as up to $3,000 for fees related to a marrow donor drive in the patient’s community. A brochure that educates the public about cancer and bone marrow transplants, as well as how to become a marrow donor, is distributed as part of the donor drive.

If you feel that NFT could be helpful to you through our fundraising services or this grant opportunity, please feel free to contact Connie at cgonitzke@transplants.org for more information.

Players Raise Funds for Teammate's Mother

A soccer team of 5th graders in Washington rallied together when they found out the mother of one of their teammate's was diagnosed with leukemia. Read this heartwarming story from the Issaquah Press in Issaquah, WA about the outpouring of support for a friend's mother.

NFT patient, Dawn Appel, was diagnosed with leukemia in September 2007. Since then, she’s undergone chemotherapy, sinus surgery and fought a blood clot in her brain. In January Dawn received her lifesaving bone marrow transplant and is recovering well. Dawn and her family are working with NFT to raise funds for Dawn's transplant-related expenses.

March is National Social Worker Month!

In celebration of National Social Worker Month, the National Foundation for Transplants wants to send a heartfelt “Thank You!” to all of the social workers helping patients through the process of transplantation. We understand how scary it can be for patients to learn they need a transplant. Transplant social workers face the task of alleviating worry each and every day for their patients, and we appreciate them!

If you are a social worker in the transplant arena, please feel free to contact NFT for more information on how we can help your patients. Contact Emily at 800-489-3863 or ejoyner@transplants.org to request more information.

Thank you for all that you do!

Will You Accept the Transplant Challenge?

By now, you probably know we’re facing a national shortage of organ donors. But with just two easy steps, you can help alleviate this crisis!

1. Donate to NFT! With your help, NFT will raise $100,000 to represent the individuals on the transplant waiting list. If you donate $25 or more, you’ll receive a Transplant Challenge t-shirt! Please indicate your t-shirt size in the comment section of the donation form.
2. Become an organ donor! Click here to visit DonateLife.net and find your state registry to sign up!

When donating to NFT, please be sure to include your e-mail address so we can send you updates about the progress of the NFT Transplant Challenge!

Thank you for your support. Together, we are raising hope and changing lives.

Generously sponsored by:

Baptist Memorial Hospital - Memphis

Baptist Heart Institute

NFT Patients Who Received Transplants in February

We are so happy for our patients who received lifesaving transplants in February!

• Stephen Bennett (liver) at Nazih Zuhdi Transplant Institute
  
• Jerry Burns (bone marrow) at Northwestern Memorial Hospital


• Jim Dorff (liver/kidney) at Henry Ford Transplant Institute


• Joe Eager (liver) at Henry Ford Transplant Institute


• Cynthia Jett (kidney/pancreas) at Duke University Medical Center

As you may know, NFT assists transplant patients (both before and after transplantation) in raising funds to pay for their transplant-related expenses. We will continue to be here to serve each of these patients' needs as they are recovering and healing from their transplants.