E-Newsletter
April, 2020


Happy Donate Life Month!
This April, 2020 Donate Life Month brings a different focus, and a heightened awareness of the importance of our health and well-being. Everywhere you look on social medial platforms, people are highlighting the gift of life, and the splash of green and blue reminds us of why we are here. As the media across the country is focused on the COVID-19 health crisis, our community has found new ways to demonstrate the amazing benefits of organ, eye and tissue donation. Please take a moment during this month to promote the mission through your own social media. We’ve become very skilled at “social distancing”, but let’s keep the message alive.
2020 TGA Planning Update

At the end of March when we announced that the Transplant Games were being postponed, we promised that we would work as quickly as possible to determine a new set of dates for the rescheduled Games and we are excited to share that we are making progress toward that end. It’s important for you to know how that effort is going. None of us are practiced at disassembling an event, so we are carefully re-evaluating available dates, renegotiating agreements, and attempting to assess the financial impact of moving an event forward to a new date. We are expecting significant cost increases and are looking for ways to reduce expenses going forward. Each day we are securing venue commitments, and we anticipate announcing the new dates in the very near future.
Blaze in Quarantine

We are guessing most people are familiar with The Elf on the Shelf book and the emerging tradition that grew from it, of households taking pictures of the elf in various situations. The Transplant Life Foundation thought it might be fun to try something similar with Blaze during this Stay at Home period. We would love to know what interesting things people are occupying themselves with or what Blaze may be up to during quarantine. Let us know how Blaze is keeping you company or participating in family time. Is he going on a walk with you, watching TV, or reading a book?

Use your Blaze bobblehead, Blaze pin or photo of Blaze to show us what you are up to. Please email photos by using the link below. Photos may be included in the photo spread for the next issue of TransplantNATION. Be creative!!

National Pediatric Transplant Week
April 19 - 25

National Pediatric Transplant Week focuses on the powerful message of ending the pediatric transplant waiting list. Throughout the week, clinical partners share their innovative work and patient stories, donor families, whose children have saved and healed lives through organ, eye, and tissue donation, are honored, and recipient families share their thanks and celebrate milestones. The Transplant Families organization has been taking part in National Pediatric Transplant Week for several years, providing beneficial resources. Throughout the week, they will be providing informational webinars for families in the transplant community. We have highlighted a few below:





To find out more about Transplant Families please visit: https://www.transplantfamilies.org/
TransplantNATION April Subscription Special

In honor of Donate Life Month, TransplantNATION magazine will be offering 50% off the regular subscription rate. Take advantage of this half-price offer and enjoy TransplantNATION human interest stories, and articles about awareness campaigns, healthy living, and medical news. Subscribe now if you are looking to be informed and inspired.

1-year subscription regular $36.00 now $18.00.
2-year subscription regular $60.00 now $30.00.
3-year subscription regular $75.00 now $37.50.
TLF and Lat & Lo Partnership

The Transplant Life Foundation is partnering with Lat & Lo, a unique handcrafted jewelry brand, to offer the transplant community an opportunity to purchase a special coordinate jewelry or accessory piece. Each Lat & Lo piece is inscribed with customizable latitude and longitude coordinates, representing a meaningful location of your choice, that commemorates a significant memory from your transplant experience.

Lat & Lo is offering a special discount to the Transplant Life Foundation community in celebration of our new partnership. Use the code TLF10 to receive a 10% discount off your purchase. In addition to the discount, Lat & Lo will donate 10% of each purchase to Transplant Life Foundation.

Visit www.transplantlifefoundation.org/latandlo to learn more, and to find the perfect piece to honor a loved one or celebrate one of life’s biggest moments.

Kim Bradshaw

Support from team managers is a big part of a team’s success and experience at the Transplant Games of America. Whether a past, or present team manager, they all have a special place in the hearts of many people. We were saddened to hear of the passing of Kim Bradshaw, former team manager of Team Oklahoma and three-time kidney recipient. Kim, who passed away on March 18, 2020, was also an organizer for the National Kidney Foundation. Kim’s real passion was her work with organizing volunteers. She was always there to lend a hand, and willing to help anyone in need. Our thoughts are with Kim’s loved ones. She will always be remembered in the Transplant Games community.

Cliff Conedy

On April 12, 2020 we lost Team Nevada member Cliff Conedy. For those of you who had the pleasure of knowing Cliff, you know we lost a good one. Cliff was such a genuine, joyful and loving human being. Cliff lived his life fully, everyday, thanking his donor Tony for a second chance at life. Not a day went by that he did not take advantage of this miracle. Cliff's kind soul will truly be missed. Please keep Cliff and his family in your thoughts.
Passages

TransplantNATION magazine’s Passages page pays tribute to many milestones reached by individuals in our community. We intend to share news of births, marriages, anniversaries, transplant anniversaries, deaths, and any other significant announcements that celebrate the gift of life or acknowledge the support an individual(s) has given to the organ, eye and tissue donation and transplantation world.

If you have a tribute you would like to share in an upcoming Passages page, please send your information (35-75 words or less) to Josh Sweedyk at

Transplant Life Foundation and Transplant Games of America would like to thank you for your support of our mission. The work that we do to educate the public and bring awareness about donation and transplantation would not be possible without your help and commitment.