2010 CJ Spiegel Memorial Golf Tournament
Posted on 07. Aug, 2010 in Events, Recent Events
The American Transplant Foundation was the proud beneficiary of the Sixth Annual CJ Spiegel Memorial Gold Tournament on August 6, 2010! Eighty golfers gathered at the Gypsum Creek Golf Club in Gypsum, Colorado to remember CJ Spiegel, a young hero who gave the gift of life. Thanks to the event’s golfers, sponsors, and volunteers, this event raised more than $9,700 to support the Foundation.
You can learn more about the tournament’s namesake, CJ, and read other inspiring stories about transplant on our Transplant Stories page.
Announcement: Katie Cicerchi leaving ATF to pursue new adventure
Posted on 02. Aug, 2010 in Announcements, Blog, Volunteering
Dear Friends,
It is with mixed emotions that I must inform everyone of Katie Cicerchi’s decision to leave the American Transplant Foundation. Katie started as an intern two and a half years ago, and during that time advanced to the position of Outreach and External Affairs Coordinator.
Katie Cicerchi at Team Transplant 2010
Katie brought new energy to the Foundation with her savvy knowledge of social media, professional writing and communications skills, and devotion to developing our volunteer program. Her dedication and contribution to not just the Foundation, but to the cause itself, has been noteworthy. It has been a pleasure working with her.
However, looking past the Foundation’s loss, it is also with great pride that I see her leave to pursue a passion true to her heart. Katie has joined Hands On Disaster Response to become a relief worker in Haiti, thus the reason for my mixed emotions. While she will be missed here, I can only be proud of her decision to help others who are in such great need.
Katie’s last day of full-time employment at the Foundation will be August 6th and she will continue to work part-time until mid-September before leaving on her new journey. Please join me in thanking Katie for her hard work and service to the American Transplant Foundation, and in wishing her a safe and a wonderful experience in Haiti.
Kind Regards,
Heidi A. Heltzel
Co-Founder and Executive Director
Deer Creek Challenge
Posted on 19. Jul, 2010 in Events, Featured Events, Team Transplant
This year, the Foundation’s charity cycling team, Team Transplant, has been invited to participate in a special inaugural event, the Deer Creek Challenge on Sunday, August 29th!
The Deer Creek Challenge has three courses that start in Littleton, Colorado and wind through beautiful Deer Creek Canyon; there’s the 33-mile course, the Metric Century, and—for the truly fit—the Century. With more than 12,700 feet elevation gain, this is the toughest century in the United States!
You’ll like what you get at the Deer Creek Challenge! Benefits for all courses include:
- $10 off the registration price for Team Transplant members; (NEW! Use coupon code DCCTEAM10 to get the discount.)
- Fully loaded aid stations complete with bike racks every 10 to 14 miles;
- Limited vehicle traffic for safer cycling;
- Post-ride barbecue with free beer;
- Commemorative t-shirt; and
- A place to relax in the Team Transplant tent after your ride!
We hope you will take up the challenge and help us raise awareness for organ and tissue donation at this event! All fundraising is optional, though those who do raise money can earn the team cycling gear. (Raise $250 and you get a free jersey!)
If we recruit 50 riders, the American Transplant Foundation will become an official beneficiary of the event! Please join Team Transplant and recruit your friends to help us reach this goal!
11th Annual Donor Dash
Posted on 18. Jul, 2010 in Events, Photos, Recent Events
American Transplant Foundation was proud to be the Race Course Sponsor of the 11th Annual Donor Dash on Sunday, July 18th in Denver’s Washington Park! Presented by our partner Donor Alliance, the Donor Dash is a 5K run/walk to honor the lives of organ and tissue donors, celebrate the lives of organ and tissue recipients, and recognize those who continue to wait for lifesaving transplants. More than 3,200 participants turned out for the event!
We had a great team representing the American Transplant Foundation this year. Thirty-one people ran or walked with the Foundation’s team, and 21 volunteers passed out water on the course or worked in the expo informing attendees about our work in the community. Special thanks to everyone who came and showed their support for the cause!
Congratulations to Elizabeth Mullen and Michelle Cleminson, team members who placed first in their divisions!
Team Transplant Cycles the 2010 Subaru Elephant Rock
Posted on 16. Jul, 2010 in Events, Photos, Recent Events, Team Transplant
The second annual Team Transplant was an incredible success! On Sunday, June 6th, 171 Team Transplant members cycled in the 2010 Subaru Elephant Rock Ride to show their support of the American Transplant Foundation and organ and tissue donation. Our riders and sponsors raised an incredible $63,000 for the Foundation! Twenty-five transplant recipients and five living kidney donors particpated on this year’s team.
After finishing their 100, 62, 34, 25, or seven mile courses, Team Transplant members were invited back to the team tent where volunteers treated them to smoothies, milkshakes, and massages. Volunteers also staffed an informational table at the tent to inform the 7,000 other Elephant Rock riders and their families about the importance of organ and tissue donation.
Thank you to our 171 team members and dozens of volunteers for making this event such a success! Visit the links and watch the video below to learn more about the event.
Photos | Team Sponsors | Meet some of the team’s inspiring members
Fresenius Medical Care Sponsors American Transplant Foundation’s Cycling Team in the Subaru Elephant Rock Cycling Festival
Posted on 03. Jun, 2010 in News Releases, Team Transplant
Company Helps Raise Awareness of Organ and Tissue Donation for Kidney Disease Patients
WALTHAM, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The American Transplant Foundation’s (ATF) Team Transplant cycling team is riding in the 2010 Subaru Elephant Rock Cycling Festival to help raise awareness of organ and tissue donation for patients suffering from Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) and other ailments that cause organ failure. Fresenius Medical Care North America (FMCNA), operator of the nation’s leading network of dialysis facilities, is a “Podium Level” sponsor of the ATF cycling team and will co-host a booth at the event with information on CKD and available treatment options, including home-based dialysis.
Eagles Concert
Posted on 25. May, 2010 in Events, Photos, Recent Events
American Transplant Foundation held a special fundraiser at the Eagles concert on May 20th at Denver’s Pepsi Center!
More than 70 guests mixed and mingled at an intimate pre-concert cocktail party in the Tuaca Chill Zone and enjoyed premium seating for the concert. Thanks to our supporters, this event raised $35,000 for the Foundation.
Kidney donor and recipient to cycle with ‘Team Transplant’ to promote living organ donation
Posted on 20. May, 2010 in In The News, Team Transplant, Volunteering
May 19, 2010 – Alice Hughes, YourHub.com
“…’I encourage everyone to investigate and consider donation,’ says Chris [de Paola]. ‘We have the capability to save the lives of people who have families, children, and friends. People who may have stories like mine, stories that end with multiple lives being saved and others changed for the better.’
To celebrate their health, Chris will fly to Colorado to cycle 34 miles with Michelle at the Subaru Elephant Rock Ride on Sunday, June 6th in Castle Rock. They are riding with Team Transplant, a charity team formed by the Denver-based American Transplant Foundation to raise awareness about organ and tissue donation. Many other transplant recipients and living organ donors are riding to prove that it’s possible to lead a healthy, active lifestyle after a transplant…”
Meet Susan Fakharzadeh
Posted on 01. May, 2010 in Volunteering
May 2010– Susan has been a huge help to the Foundation since she started volunteering in the fall of 2009. If you haven’t had the pleasure of meeting her yet, look for her at the Elephant Rock Ride on June 6th, where she and her husband Brian will be riding with Team Transplant!
How did you become involved with the American Transplant Foundation?
I became involved with the American Transplant Foundation through Team Transplant’s ride at Elephant Rock in 2009. A friend invited me to join the ride, and I really did it thinking it would be a good motivator for me and my husband to get active that spring.
We have been touched by transplant several times, knowing multiple friends and family members who have received life-saving transplants. Becoming an organ donor was something I did when I received my first driver’s license, and learning more about living donation and the power to save and change lives is something that is very, very inspiring to me.
What has been your favorite volunteer event, project, or opportunity and why?
I love Team Transplant because you meet so many great people and get to share the word. Every time we’ve worn our Team Transplant jerseys we get questions from fellow riders about the Foundation, and it feels really great to share the message and (hopefully) get more people involved.
My favorite project, admittedly, is writing the Team Transplant blog. It’s really enjoyable to write and talk about what the various team members are doing to help train, recruit, and raise funds for the big day.
What are you looking forward in the next year?
I’m looking forward to summer! It feels like it’s been such a long winter!
I’m also looking forward to new and interesting ways to be involved with the Foundation. While Team Transplant will forever be very dear to my heart, I know that the opportunities to work with this great team of people will continue beyond June 6th!
Do you have any special talents or interests that people don’t know about?
Many people don’t know that I was a mutton-buster at the Idaho State Fair in 1982! It was a year to remember!
LOL… other than that, I love to cook and entertain friends. To me, there’s nothing more enjoyable than spending a long, balmy summer evening in our yard with a great meal, some nice wine, and conversation that takes you long past when the crickets stop singing.
What is your favorite place to vacation and why?
My husband and I are passionate travelers, and we love to rotate between beach-y vacations and more tourist/city vacations. I still think traveling through rural Italy is one of my all-time favorites—we honeymooned in Rome and Tuscany—but I have to say that the solitude and inky blackness of the night sky over the south pacific in Tahiti is pretty hard to pass up!
Do you have any other thoughts that you would like to share?
Brian and I love to dedicate our ride to the loved ones we know that have benefited from the power of transplant and those that have passed the gift on. We happily dedicate this ride to my Uncle George, heart transplant recipient, my buddy Kelly (happy birthday pal!), a two-time heart recipient, and my father, Frank Sanda, who gave the gift of sight to two people when he lost his brief battle with pulmonary fibrosis in 2008.
We rarely have the opportunity to offer up such life-saving gifts, and I’m proud to know the people who have given this gift so freely and generously.
Announcing the winners of the Show Us Your Heart Video Contest!
Posted on 29. Apr, 2010 in Blog, Contests
American Transplant Foundation and Donate Life Colorado are proud to present the winners of the Show Us Your Heart Video Contest!
Judges’ Choice – Kai’s Story- Submitted by Jasmine Hollingsworth
Viewers’ Choice – I am grateful and thankful to be alive – Submitted by Ruben Porras
Winners of Donate Life License Plates:
Kai’s Story- Submitted by Jasmine Hollingsworth
I am grateful and thankful to be alive – Submitted by Ruben Porras
Team Beth – Submitted by Beth Pritts
Take Jake – Submitted by Melissa Hourigan
Donate Life Today – Submitted by Brett Menzie
Congratulations to our winners! Thank you for submitting such inspirational videos and helping us raise awareness about the importance of organ and tissue donation!
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