CONNECTIONSFIRST QUARTER 2016

A NEWSLETTER FOR GIFT OF HOPE’S PARTNERS AND FRIENDS

THIS ISSUEA Record Year

An Inspired Legacy

A Holiday Gift

Kevin McLaurin Waits

Connections provides the Gift of Hope public and professional communities with news and information about Gift of Hope, organ and tissue donation and the importance of being a registered organ and tissue donor. We encourage you to share this newsletter with your friends and associates and learn more about donation by visiting GiftofHope.org. We mail Connections to people who have expressed an interest in Gift of Hope or the topic of organ and tissue donation. If you would like to be removed from our mailing list, please email your request to tsullivan@giftofhope.org.

PRESIDENT/CEOJ. Kevin Cmunt

DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONSAND MARKETINGGregory Alford630/758-2726galford@giftofhope.org

MANAGER OF COMMUNICATIONSAND MARKETINGTherese Michels630/758-2603tmichels@giftofhope.org

MANAGING EDITORTony Sullivan630/758-2721tsullivan@giftofhope.org

CONTRIBUTORSSusan Cochran630/758-2987scochran@giftofhope.org

Nesha Logan630/758-2743nlogan@giftofhope.org

Raiza Mendoza630/758-2744rmendoza@giftofhope.org

Veronica Moreno630/758-2799vmoreno@giftofhope.org

Diane Schmitz630/758-2741dschmitz@giftofhope.org

Marion Shuck630/758-2616mshuck@giftofhope.org

Copyright © 2016. All Rights Reserved

CONNECTIONSAn Inspired Legacy A tireless donation advocate and double-lung transplant recipient, Carrie Stephen called herself the face of the second chance that people can one day provide as donors.

Community OutreachGift of Hope is continuing its efforts to build awareness of donation and the need for registered donors in African-American and Hispanic communities in the organization’s service area.

On the CoverGift of Hope Donor Family Advisory Council members Patsy Tracy (left) and her mother, Anita, attended one of Gift of Hope’s two A Celebration of Hope donor family tribute events held in 2015 along with Patsy’s daughter, Nadia Ghouleh-Tracy. More than 150 donor families joined them at these moving events held to honor and remember loved ones who offered the gift of hope through donation. During Gift of Hope’s record-setting 2015, the organization was privileged to work with more than 2,000 donor families whose loved ones offered hope and life through organ and tissue donation.

The Wait: Kevin McLaurinDespite the many challenges he’s faced while on the national kidney transplant waiting list for 10 years, Kevin McLaurin keeps his spirits high and feels blessed for every day he’s given.

A Special Holiday GiftThanksgiving Day was a bittersweet day for Quinetta Taylor who had something special to be thankful for after receiving a kidney transplant just two weeks before the holiday.

IN THIS ISSUE

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In 2015, Gift of Hope experienced an eclectic mix of celebrations, dedications, tragedies and triumphs as it continued its mission of saving and enhancing lives through organ and tissue donation. Here’s a visual recap of some noteworthy events, milestones and celebrations from 2015.

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1 Stevie Wonder was among many dignitaries celebrating the life of “Baby Quinn” Kyles in January. Quinn, who died at 23 in December 2014, brought national attention to minority donation in 1991.

2 Gift of Hope staff helped children who have had significant burn injuries enjoy a week of play at Camp I Am Me in June.

3 Champaign County Coroner Julia Rietz (left)was among 17 Lifesaving Partners Award recipients recognized for going “above and

beyond” to make donation happen. Gift of Hope Donation Coordinator Lola Lewis nomnated her for the award.

4 Gift of Hope called upon residents in its service area to celebrate and honor organ and tissue donation’s Circle of Hope during National Donate Life Month in April.

5 Gift of Hope launched a Message of the Month program to educate hospital professionals about donation and their roles in making donation happen.

6 The Illinois General Assembly officially designated Nov. 12 as Gift of Hope Awareness Day in Illinois thanks to the support of State Sen. Tony Muñoz.

7 Peoria’s OSF Saint Francis Medical Center once again referred the most organ donors to Gift of Hope.

8 Gift of Hope partnered with area mayors to call attention to the need for more minority donors through the Mayors for Hope initiative.

9 Gift of Hope representatives joined Ill. Secretary of State Jesse White in observing National Minority Donor Awareness Week in August.

10 The Chicago Wolves helped Gift of Hope spread the donation message by holding Gift of Hope Donation Night in April.

11 Ill. Lt. Gov. Evelyn Sanguinetti (red jacket) helped Gift of Hope dedicate its new Springfield office in May.

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2015The Year in Pictures

An Advocate Until the

End

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Gift of Hope honored Carrie Stephen with a Lifesaving Partners Award

in 2014. Gift of Hope Donation Coordinator Michelle Reef (right)

nominated her for the award.

Carrie Stephen Leaves an

Inspiring Legacy

“One of a kind.” “Courageous.” “Inspirational.” These are words that friends and colleagues use to describe Carrie Stephen, a tireless Gift of Hope Advocates for Hope volunteer and a double-lung transplant recipient who passed away in November at the age of 31.

“She was a beautiful soul, and I am blessed to have known her,” said Michelle Reef, a Donation Coordinator for Gift of Hope Organ & Tissue Donor Network.

After Carrie’s 2013 transplant surgery, the two developed a professional relationship that quickly blossomed into a friendship Reef said she’ll treasure forever. They met at Children’s Hospital of Illinois in Peoria, where Carrie worked as a pediatric surgery physician assistant. “She was one of those people who, after you met her, you loved her,” Reef said.

The two met frequently over coffee to discuss ways to promote organ and tissue donor awareness and identify potential donor candidates. “She didn’t want any opportunity to fall through the cracks,” Reef remembered. Carrie organized grand rounds, speaker panels and donor registration drives that educated hospital staff and visitors alike about the importance of organ and tissue donation. As a result of her enthusiastic efforts, she was honored with a 2014 Gift of Hope Lifesaving Partners Award.

Tireless Donation AdvocateIn her nomination of Carrie, Reef wrote, “Carrie wears many hats. In her role at Children’s Hospital, Carrie takes care of patients who are waiting for organ transplants. She is also an Advocates for Hope volunteer and has spoken to countless groups about donation. And as if that isn’t enough, Carrie knows firsthand how much of an impact donation can have on someone because she is a double-lung recipient herself. To know Carrie is to love Carrie, and I certainly fall into that category.”

The two friends and their families planned to attend the University of Illinois vs. University of Wisconsin football game at the end of October last fall, but Carrie became ill. Three weeks later, Reef learned that Carrie had died due to complications of pneumonia.

Before her lifesaving organ transplant surgery, the Racine, Wis., native balanced a busy career, loving relationships and adoration for her Boston terrier. Toting her oxygen tanks with her day and night as her lung function deteriorated from autoimmune pulmonary fibrosis, Carrie threw herself into her work. Although she spent 17 months on the transplant waiting list, she never wavered in her commitment to help her young patients.

Committed to ChildrenIn fact, Carrie played a pivotal role in bringing together a pioneering Italian surgeon and two-year-old Hannah Warren, who was born without a trachea, in 2013. The tiny toddler, whose story garnered national headlines, had spent most of her life in a South Korean hospital before undergoing a revolutionary transplant using a windpipe grown from her own stem cells. Carrie was by Hannah’s side at Children’s Hospital through it all. Sadly, Hannah passed away just two weeks after Carrie’s own surgery. But Hannah is what kept her going as she waited for the call.

In her Advocates for Hope profile, Carrie wrote, “When I was younger, I pictured individuals who needed organs as thin, frail, sickly, bedbound, hospitalized, terminal patients with days or weeks to live. However, this is not always the picture of organ recipients. People like me, who are young, active and even worked 60+ hours a week right up until the day of transplant, have end-stage diseases, which can only be palliated with organ transplantation. This is why organ donation is so important. You never know whose lives you can impact when making that decision to become a donor. I am the face of the second chance you can one day provide.”

Rest in peace, Carrie; your legacy lives on.

With the start of a new year, Gift of Hope is continuing its efforts to build donation awareness in African-American and Hispanic communities in the organization’s Illinois and northwest Indiana service area.

In early February, Gift of Hope began a partnership with the Community Currency Exchange Association of

Illinois (CCEA) to raise public awareness of the need for organ and tissue donors and encourage currency exchange customers to register as donors in the Illinois Organ/Tissue Donor Registry. The initiative kicked off when Gift of Hope representatives, Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White, CCEA Executive Director Matthew Kurtzman and two currency exchange owners held press briefings Feb. 3 at two Chicago-area currency exchanges to introduce the Currency Exchange Partnership Program.

“The first neighborhood currency exchange in Illinois opened in 1937 to assist community residents with a variety of financial needs,” Kurtzman said at the briefing. “Since the beginning, giving back has always been a part of each neighborhood currency location. We’re pleased to partner with Gift of Hope to help spread awareness about the importance of organ and tissue donation and encourage our customers to register as donors.”

The collaborative outreach initiative will reach all of CCEA’s nearly 400 currency exchange members in Illinois, according to Marion Shuck, Gift of Hope’s Manager of Community Affairs. “Gift of Hope data show that donor registration numbers in communities where currency exchanges are located are typically below average when compared with other communities within Gift of Hope’s service area,” Shuck said. “Data also show that an above-average number of people living in these areas are waiting for organ transplants.”

To promote organ and tissue donor awareness, Gift of Hope is featuring educational displays and brochures at each currency exchange location. The brochure features stories of people waiting for an organ and tissue transplant and also contains a tear-off card that customers can fill out and send in to the Illinois Secretary of State to register as donors.

“It’s really about the circle of donation,” Shuck added. “Donation may occur in the hospital, but it begins in the community. And currency exchanges are located in communities where people work, play, live and worship. At the end of the day, this new initiative will help educate segments of the population that might not even think about organ and tissue donation until it happens to them. We hope this will be a replicable program for a long time.”

Mission Smile for Hope Brings Holiday Joy to ChildrenGift of Hope is continuing its outreach efforts to raise awareness of donation in Hispanic communities. Gift of Hope representatives once again brought smiles and joy to children awaiting organ transplants in Chicago-area hospitals and to community organizations that serve underprivileged children as part of its annual Mission Smile for Hope (Misión Sonrisa) campaign held during the recent holiday season.

People and local businesses in Chicago’s Latino communities and Gift of Hope staff donated more than 2,000 toys that were delivered to University of Illinois Children’s Hospital, University of Illinois Transplant Center, Mount Sinai Children’s Hospital and El Hogar del Niño, which provides childhood education and support services to people in Chicago’s Latino communities.

Misión Sonrisa was created in 2012 when Raiza Mendoza, Gift of Hope’s Manager of Hispanic Affairs, visited Chicago’s Lurie Children’s Hospital and met Christopher Raymundo, a young boy in need of an organ transplant. Christopher’s story inspired Mendoza to launch an initiative to raise awareness within the

Latino community about the importance of registering to become organ and tissue donors.

“Misión Sonrisa ended its fourth year triumphantly, proving that the spirit of giving hope is ingrained in the hearts of the Latino community,” Mendoza said. “As long as there are children in need of hope, Gift of Hope will continue growing Misión Sonrisa so that we can take it to more underserved communities.”

Currency Exchanges Partner to Build Donation Awareness

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Community Currency Exchange Association

Executive Director Matthew Kurtzman (left) helped Gift of Hope’s Marion Shuck, Manager of Community Affairs, and Jack Lynch,

Director of Community Affairs, launch the organization’s new currency exchange outreach

program on Feb. 3.

Gift of Hope’s Mission Smile for Hope program brought smiles and joy to children awaiting organ transplants in Chicago-area hospitals during the holidays.

Elizabeth Lively joined Gift of Hope as Chief Policy Officer on Jan. 4. In this newly created position, Lively is leading the development and growth of the Illinois Transplant Fund and working to strengthen Gift of Hope’s relationships with hospitals, elected officials, coroners, medical examiners and other key external stakeholders to promote the organization’s mission.

Lively comes to Gift of Hope after serving as Vice President of Foundation Development for the Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council, a membership and service association comprising more than 150 hospitals and healthcare organizations that work to improve healthcare delivery services in metropolitan Chicago. Before that, she served as MCHC’s Vice President of Government and External Affairs where

she managed MCHC’s advocacy, public relations, marketing and membership services departments, experience she will put to use while offering executive guidance to Gift of Hope’s Hospital Development and Communications and Marketing departments. Before joining MCHC, Lively spent more than 20 years at Adventist Midwest Health in Hinsdale, Ill., where she held several positions, most recently Associate Vice President for External Affairs and President of the Midwest Health Foundation. She earned a master’s degree in communications from Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., and is an alumna of Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management and the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy in Indianapolis.

A volunteer for Chicago-based Top Box Foods, Lively also serves on the Dean’s Advisory Board of Midwestern University’s Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine in Downers Grove, Ill., and is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives, Association of Fundraising Professionals, Robert Wood Johnson Leadership Network and Chicago Area Public Affairs Group.

Gift of Hope recently recognized a Highland Park, Ill., business for the generous way it has supported the organ donation cause by presenting David Ariano, owner of Ravinia Plumbing and Heating in that northern Chicago suburb, with Gift of Hope’s inaugural Supporting the Gift Award.

Gary Apfelbaum, one of Ariano’s employees, received a kidney transplant in 2010 after experiencing several years of declining health due to a kidney disorder. When he received his transplant, his quality of life changed for the better, but he faced many doctor visits and significant recovery time away from work. Throughout this challenging period, Ariano gave Apfelbaum the backing he needed until he could return to work. “David supported me throughout the donation and transplantation process,” Apfelbaum said. “I knew I would have insurance and a job waiting for me when I got back, which was instrumental in my recovery.”

To thank Ariano for his generous support, Apfelbaum approached Gift of Hope and urged the organization to honor Ariano for his willingness to go the extra mile for an employee in need. Gift of Hope President/CEO Kevin Cmunt didn’t hesitate to act. “At Gift of Hope, we often honor donor families who offer the gift of life and transplant recipients for the courage they show in honoring the gift of life they receive,” Cmunt said. “Gary has reminded us that employers are an important piece of the lifesaving donation puzzle. By supporting their employees through the donation and transplantation process, business owners like David Ariano are also honoring the gift of life that selfless donors or donor families have offered.”

To recognize Ariano for his generous act, Cmunt presented him with the Supporting the Gift Award that will now be presented to a deserving Illinois or northwest Indiana business each year. Many of Ariano’s Ravinia Plumbing and Heating employees attended the award presentation held at Ariano’s business. Many of them were clearly touched by the story. “My philosophy is, ‘The customer comes first, and the people who take care of the customers need to be taken care of,’” Ariano said in receiving the award.

Lively Joins Gift of Hope as Chief Policy Officer

Gift of Hope Recognizes Area Business for Support of Donation

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Gift of Hope presented David Ariano (second right), owner of a Highland Park, Ill., plumbing and heating company, with its inaugural Supporting the Gift Award for the support he gave Gary Apfelbaum while recovering from a kidney transplant. Gift of Hope Communications and Marketing Coordinators Nesha Logan (left) and Susan Cochran presented Ariano with the award.

DONATION BRIEFS

Gift of Hope will hold its annual continuing education seminar for funeral service professionals on Wednesday, May 18, at the Holiday Inn – Itasca in Itasca, Ill.

The all-day seminar, offered at no cost to professionals in the funeral and forensics community, is a popular donation educational resource for funeral directors, embalmers, non-licensed funeral service staff and pre-need counselors and will offer continuing education credits for participation. Coroners, medical examiners and their allied staff members also are welcome and encouraged to attend the program.

This year’s program, A Mission of Honor and Hope, will cover a broad range of

timely and informative topics designed to educate funeral and forensic service professionals about organ and tissue donation and how they can work with tissue recovery professionals to perform their respective duties while producing positive donation outcomes.

Free registration includes all seminar materials, continental breakfast and lunch. Registration will be conducted online at GiftofHope.org and will open in early April. Space is limited so early registration is encouraged. Visit GiftofHope.org to learn more about the 2016 seminar and to register when online registration opens.

Two upcoming Gift of Hope seminars will help hospital professionals learn how donation can turn tragedy into hope and how major world religions view donation.

From Tragedy to Hope: Rewriting the Story is designed for hospital clinical care staff members who want to learn more about the donation process and their roles in it. The seminar is a repeat of the program offered to hospital professionals last October and is being offered in response to the high demand to attend that continuing education program. It tells the start-to-finish story of the organ and tissue donation and transplantation processes and underscores the critical roles that hospital professionals play in

writing — and sometimes rewriting — the donation story to help honor the donation decision and transform tragedy into hope.

The seminar will be held on two dates in two locations — April 14 at Gift of Hope headquarters in Itasca, Ill., and April 28 at Gift of Hope’s Springfield office. The programs for both seminars are identical and will run from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on both days.

Meanwhile, hospital pastoral care staff members and others who offer spiritual guidance to patients and family members will benefit from attending To See, To Be, To Do: Primary Perspectives of World Religions, presented by Brian Carwana of the Encounter World Religions Centre. The two-part seminar offers an overview of select world religions along with a map for understanding religious worldviews on many issues, including those associated with end-of-life decisions.

This two-day seminar will also be held on two dates in two locations — June 6 –7 at Gift of Hope headquarters in Itasca, Ill., and June 9 – 10 at Gift of Hope’s Springfield office. The programs for both seminars are identical and will run from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Hospital professionals can earn continuing education units by attending any of these seminars, and there is no cost to attend. However, capacity will be limited for all of them, so early registration is encouraged. Contact the Gift of Hope Donation Coordinator serving your hospital or visit GiftofHope.org for registration information and more details on the seminars.

Annual Funeral Director Seminar Set for May 18

Hospital Professionals Seminars Will Cover Donation Process, World Religions

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To New Heights in Honoring

the Gift

When Kevin Cmunt took the helm as President/CEO of Gift of Hope just before the start of 2013, he came in with lofty goals to improve the organization’s operations and a boatload of ideas on how to achieve them. That first year he guided the organization with a laser-sharp focus on where he wanted to take Gift of Hope as an organ procurement organization (OPO) and fueled his actions with an energy level that could easily power a fleet of all-electric cars.

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Gift of Hope Touched More Lives in 2015 Than Ever Before

Tarcia Patton (center) and Jermaine Cullum Sr. (second left), the parents of young organ donor Jermaine Cullum, met Celia Fabre (left), Karen Emerich (right) and Tarik Causay, the recipients of Jermaine’s gifts of life, for the first time in an emotional gathering in May.

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Gift of Hope staff fed off that energy, and under Cmunt’s first-year leadership in 2013 the organization performed like it had never performed before, setting one-year records across the board in major areas of OPO performance measurement — organ donors, organs transplanted, organs per donor, tissue donors and more.

The prevailing thought at Gift of Hope when 2014 rolled around was that such a performance could never happen again. But it did. The organization once again broke one-year performance records across the board in 2014.

No way it could happen for the third year in a row, right?

Wrong. Make it three in a row.

In 2015, Gift of Hope once again helped a record-setting number of families deal with the tragic loss of their loved ones and saved and enhanced more lives than ever before in its 29-year history. During the year, 379 people became organ donors, up from 336 the previous year. That resulted in 1,077 organ transplants, up from 1,024 in 2014. Gift of Hope also worked with nearly 1,800 tissue donors in 2015, which means the organization was privileged to honor the wishes of more than 2,100 organ and tissue donors and donor families last year.

“We have achieved new heights in carrying out our mission,” Cmunt said. “We have now increased organ donors by 45 percent and bone donors by 80 percent in three years. Although we measure our overall performance on how we operate as an organization, every single person in the Gift of Hope family had a record year and should be incredibly proud of the contributions they made to our 2015 successes.”

Of course, none of this would have been possible without the selfless decisions made by individuals and family members to offer the gift of life to others through donation and the strong support Gift of Hope received from referring hospitals and transplant centers in our service area, Cmunt added.

“These are all noteworthy accomplishments and somethingto be proud of. But organ and tissue donation is not about numbers. It’s about people — donors, donor families, transplant recipients, and hospital, funeral service and forensics professionals — and their stories.”

A YEAR OF RECORDSIn addition to Gift of Hope’s record-setting recovery and placement performance in 2015, several other noteworthy accomplishments illustrate the organization’s successes last year:

c Gift of Hope received more than 5,300 hospital referrals for organ donation, up 15 percent from 2014, and nearly 12,300 tissue referrals, up 3 percent from last year. This enabled Gift of Hope to find more opportunities to honor the wishes of donors and donor families to offer the gift of hope to people waiting for lifesaving and life-enhancing transplants.

c Gift of Hope’s Allocation and Perfusion staff worked to place more than 1,350 organs recovered from donors during the year, resulting in the successful transplant of 1,077 organs. The organization’s tremendous successes as an OPO have periodically resulted in an overabundance of organs available for transplant in Gift of Hope’s service area. As a result, Gift of Hope has now become the leading supplier of lifesaving organs outside of its own donation service area, saving lives across the country.

c Gift of Hope’s Donor Resource Center, which operates as a call center for organ and tissue donation referrals from hospitals, broke a one-year record by receiving 72,095 referral calls, up from 70,458 calls in 2014.

c The organization’s Hospital Development team, consisting of Donation Coordinators who serve as liaisons between Gift of Hope and its 180 referring hospitals, made more than 11,100 onsite visits to hospitals in 2015 — a 21 percent increase from the year before — in response to potential donation opportunities.

c As a result of the Hospital Development team’s successes, Gift of Hope’s Donation Specialists, who approach families to request authorization for donation, set new records with 530 family approaches to authorize organ donation and 4,300 family approaches to authorize tissue donation, a combined 15 percent increase from the year before.

c Gift of Hope’s Histocompatibility & Immunogenetics Laboratory set new records by handling more than 32,000 blood and tissue samples, performing 7,736 crossmatches for recipients and conducting 8,839 infectious disease tests — all without a single mistake.

c Gift of Hope’s Communications and Community Affairs teams produced and coordinated more news conferences and secured more TV time than ever before. The departments also collaborated to provide donation content expertise on productions of NBC’s new “Chicago Med” drama series and leveraged that connection to secure TV coverage that placed Gift of Hope and donation on the nightly news in every major market in Illinois. Gift of Hope achieved its 2015 successes because of

the selfless decisions made by individuals and family members to offer the gift of life to others through

donation, said Gift of Hope President/CEO Kevin Cmunt.

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STORIES OF HOPEFor Gift of Hope, 2015 was filled with many inspirational “people stories” that truly convey organ and tissue donation’s tragedies and triumphs. Here are four that are representative of the many stories of hope that Gift of Hope was associated with in 2015:

Quinn Kyles: Quinn Kyles came into the world with much fanfare in December 1991, and he left the world the same way when many local dignitaries and lifelong friend Stevie Wonder gathered to celebrate his life in January 2015.

“Baby Quinn,” as he came to be known, captured the nation’s attention in 1991 when Theresa and Dwain Kyles learned that their unborn child would

need a heart transplant within weeks of his birth in order to survive and that Theresa’s health insurance wouldn’t cover the procedure. Wonder, Gift of Hope and other influential people and organizations came to their rescue, and, 13 days after he was born, Baby Quinn received the heart transplant he needed to live.

For the next 23 years, Quinn filled the lives of his family and friends with endless joy until his life was tragically cut short by a car accident in December 2014, just days after his 23rd birthday. Baby Quinn helped to put organ and tissue donation front and center in the African-American community. His life and legacy are a testament to the power of community.

Jermaine Cullum Jr.: Four families held a reunion of sorts at Gift of Hope in May 2015. Although they’d never met before and aren’t related by blood, the families share a special bond that transcends ethnicity, religion, economic status and geography — created by the life-giving legacy of 16-year-old Jermaine Cullum Jr.

Jermaine, a 16-year-old Chicago high school student, gave new life

to three people as an organ donor in May 2014. With their loved ones by their sides, the three transplant recipients met Tarcia Patton and Jermaine Cullum Sr., Jermaine’s parents, for the first time in an emotional, uplifting gathering last May. “They are my family now,” Tarcia said. “They’re part of my son, so now they’re part of me.”

Andre Ford: Andre Ford often referred to his battle with chronic kidney failure as a storm, one he had weathered since age 17 when he was diagnosed with proteinuria, an indicator of dysfunctional kidneys. His condition forced him to abandon his dreams of joining the armed forces, and he pursued a career in retail banking management.

Andre was able to weather the minor storm his condition created for the next seven years, but at 24 he learned he had an autoimmune disease that was attacking his kidneys. In the following years, the disease destroyed his kidneys — and his belief in God. He chose to walk away from his church, his faith and his salvation. But spending many years on dialysis altered that view, and he regained his faith.

“I am with the One who gives peace in the midst of storms,” he said back in 2013. In July 2015, Andre’s storm ended when a donor gave him new life, ending his time on the kidney transplant waiting list and validating his faith in God and others.

Jarvis Pickett: Six years to the day after receiving a lifesaving kidney and pancreas transplant, Wendie Ingle Johnson thanked Tasha Gatewood as the two — one, a transplant recipient grateful for the chance to continue being a mother to her children and, the other, the mother of a young organ donor — embraced at an emotional, first-time meeting in Peoria, Ill.

Jarvis Pickett, Tasha’s 12-year-old son, died in 2009 after suffering an asthma attack and saved three lives by donating his heart, liver and right kidney. Tasha was initially reluctant to authorize donation, but

her oldest son, Antonio, gave her clarity. “I would often say to my sons, ‘Don’t be selfish.’,” she said. “Now, Antonio was saying that to me. My ‘no’ to authorization became a ‘yes.’”

“The stories of these people and the many others we were privileged to serve in 2015 remind us what organ and tissue donation is all about and why we do what we do as individuals and an organization to honor the decision to donate and make donation happen,” said Kevin Cmunt, Gift of Hope’s President/CEO. “Our team of 270 dedicated professionals serves 24 hours a day, seven days a week to pursue Gift of Hope’s ultimate vision — a successful outcome for every donation opportunity we’re presented with.”

Gift of Hope presented Quinn Kyles’ parents with its Tragedy to Triumph Award, which honors donor family members who have turned the tragedy of a loss into the triumph of spirit. Dwain Kyles (second right) accepted the award on the family’s behalf.

Wendie Ingle Johnson (right) met Tasha Gatewood in September to give thanks for the lifesaving gifts she received from Tasha’s son, Jarvis Pickett.

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Fifty-year-old Kevin McLaurin of Chicago has a family history of high blood pressure, so it came as little surprise when he, too, learned he had high blood pressure more than a decade ago. He received medicine to combat the problem, but it proved devastating to his kidneys.

Today, Kevin patiently waits for a kidney transplant to restore him to good health and to the active, fulfilling life he once had. Despite the many challenges he’s faced, the associate minister of St. Luke Missionary Baptist Church in Chicago feels blessed for every day he’s given.

Kevin’s story begins in May 2005 when the loving husband and father of three went in for a routine physical. His doctor told him he had high blood pressure and prescribed potent medication to control it. Two weeks later, Kevin noticed blood in his urine.

Although he was alarmed, the busy carpenter had just been promoted to superintendent of a $5 million job site with 20 workers to supervise: He had work responsibilities to take care of first. Kevin completed his workday, called his wife and drove himself to the hospital. He was so weak he passed out in the parking lot. After a series of tests, doctors discovered that both of his kidneys had shut down.

“The medicine I had been taking knocked out my kidneys,” he explained. Within days, Kevin began three-times-a-week dialysis treatments that he continues to this day. In 2006, he was added to the waiting list for a kidney transplant.

Over the years, Kevin has needed more than 100 surgeries to survive. He has also withstood an emergency appendectomy, had 30 percent of his colon removed because of diverticulitis, undergone two knee surgeries and a back surgery, and had a torn rotator cuff repaired.

“I’ve been through a lot, but God is good to me,” Kevin said.

Compounding his kidney problem, Kevin has a very rare blood type — B negative. Only 2 percent of the population has B negative blood, making a suitable kidney donor extremely hard to find.

And while necessary for survival, the grueling dialysis treatments have sapped his energy and taxed his heart. Kevin has suffered two heart attacks and now has an implanted pacemaker/defibrillator to regulate his heart rhythm. He visits the doctor at

least twice a week and takes more than 20 pills a day. The once sought-after carpenter is now uninsurable on the job, so, instead, he works part time at a friend’s sandwich shop.

Before his kidneys failed, Kevin enjoyed an active lifestyle. As a child and teen, he participated in baseball, football and swimming. His specialty in the latter was the difficult butterfly stroke, which requires good technique and a superior level of fitness. His 225-pound muscular frame gave him an edge and earned him countless accolades as a competitive swimmer.

After high school, Kevin joined the Navy, where he served as an underwater demolitions expert for seven years. When he became a parent, the self-avowed “sports fanatic” coached his son’s peewee and high school football teams. He especially enjoyed the camaraderie and mentoring opportunities that came with it.

Today, Kevin’s extracurricular activities are much more limited. Other than his part-time job, dialysis visits and trips to the doctor, he doesn’t venture very far from home. On the rare occasion when he does, he has to scout out a nearby dialysis center in advance that can accommodate his treatment schedule.

For the past three years, Kevin has served as a Gift of Hope Advocates for Hope volunteer, educating the

community about the need for organ and tissue donation and the importance of registering as

a donor. “I’ve also done a couple of radio shows on the topic,” he said.

And when Kevin is called on to preach to area churches, his message is a powerful

one. “I always include my personal story in my sermon,” he explained. “They can see that

I’m still here and that I’m faithful. My testimony is strong.”

Despite his many challenges, Kevin has seen his children graduate from high school and go to college, one earning a master’s degree. And he had the opportunity to embrace his soldier son when he returned from his tour of duty in Afghanistan.

Kevin said his 11-year ordeal has made him stronger and more empathetic to others. “I know someone else is worse off than me,” he said. “I’m grateful for each day that I have.”

And, although he doesn’t wait by the phone for “the call,” Kevin has faith he will one day be healed through the gift of organ donation. Referring to a Bible passage, Kevin stated, “We all have thorns in our side. This is my thorn.”

Spirit of Hope Helps Chicago Man Endure

THE WAIT

“I’ve been through a lot, but God is good to me.”

12 CONNECTIONS

UPDATE:

In the early morning hours of Nov. 5, 2015, Quinetta Taylor received a most welcome wakeup call. “I was in a deep sleep at 3 a.m. when my parents woke me up, sat on the side of my bed and told me that the transplant coordinator was on the phone for me,” Quinetta recalled. “I may have been sleepy, but I knew what I was being offered. After a brief discussion with my parents, I was on my way to The University of Chicago Medicine to get the kidney transplant I had been waiting to receive for more than two years.”

Quinetta’s story was first shared with the Gift of Hope community in a 2013 issue of Connections. Her road to the kidney transplant waiting list began in 2001 when she was a sophomore at Iowa State University. She knew something was wrong because she was constantly fatigued and her legs began to swell. In fact, the swelling became so intense that the skin on her legs began to tear. Quinetta returned to her Chicago home and learned that she had chronic kidney disease, a condition she was all too familiar with.

Quinetta’s father was diagnosed with kidney failure in 1983, a year before she was born. She grew up watching him go to dialysis three times a week, and she sometimes accompanied him to the dialysis center. When Quinetta was 16, she saw the toll that long-term dialysis had taken on her father and decided to give him one of her kidneys as a living donor. He was on the kidney transplant waiting list when she made the decision, but, before she could offer him her gift of life, someone else did — a deceased donor. For the next five years, life for Quinetta took on a sense of normalcy. No more trips to the dialysis clinic.

But that changed in 2010 when her deteriorating condition put her on dialysis, beginning her journey toward the kidney transplant waiting list. Shortly after starting dialysis, Quinetta learned that to be listed for a transplant she had to lose weight. A lot of weight — 120 pounds. After working with a trainer at Fitness Formula Clubs in Chicago, she lost the required weight, and on April 15, 2013, she was officially placed on the kidney transplant waiting list.

About 2.5 years later, Quinetta received her new kidney, and it immediately started working. That gave her the chance to have

one of the healthiest Thanksgiving holidays she had experienced in many years. The holiday should have been an extra special day for her to reflect on her lifesaving gift, but, instead, she spent the day with her father in a hospital emergency room because of complications from the chronic kidney disease he had been fighting for more than 30 years. Six weeks later, he lost his battle for life.

“My dad was on dialysis for 34 years, which is almost unheard of,” Quinetta said. “But my holidays were not ruined. My dad was alive to see me receive my gift, and now he is my angel.”

The world looks different for Quinetta now, much like what it looked like coming out from under anesthesia after the transplant. “The world literally looked brighter,” she recalled. “I immediately felt stronger. It was amazing.”

And “amazing” is a good way to describe the journey of this strong and resilient woman. Quinetta continues her commitment to educate and inspire people about organ and tissue donation through her work as an Advocates for Hope volunteer with Gift of Hope. In addition to volunteering, she also can now hold a part-time job thanks to her good health. To no one’s surprise, that job involves helping others as she works as a patient/staff liaison with The Renal Network, a national organization that monitors the quality of kidney dialysis care.

Quinetta Taylor worked out for many months to lose the 120 pounds she needed to drop to become eligible for the kidney transplant waiting list.

Gift of Hope Volunteer Gets Special Holiday Gift

Gift of Hope works in partnership with 180 hospitals and nine transplant centers to meet the ever-growing demand for donor organs and fulfill the organization’s vision — that every opportunity for organ and tissue donation is successful. Here’s a look at key donation performance metrics for Illinois and northwest Indiana hospitals that have had at least one organ donor during the period noted and the contributions these hospitals are making to give hope and life to others.

Hospital Performance

Metrics*

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Adventist GlenOaks Hospital 2 67 67 100Adventist Hinsdale Hospital 1 67 67 50Advocate BroMenn Medical Center 4 71 100 86Advocate Christ Medical Center 34 70 74 95Advocate Condell Medical Center 5 80 89 92Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital 4 70 80 100Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital 1 50 50 100Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center 9 86 87 87Advocate Lutheran General Hospital 6 60 64 86Advocate Sherman Hospital 2 50 60 86Advocate South Suburban Hospital 1 100 100 33Advocate Trinity Hospital 2 100 100 100Alexian Brothers Medical Center 2 63 56 80Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital 2 50 57 83Blessing Hospital 7 73 80 85Captain James A. Lovell VA Center 1 100 100 100Carle Foundation Hospital 15 65 70 100Centegra Hospital: McHenry 3 57 80 67Centegra Hospital: Woodstock 1 75 75 100Central DuPage Hospital 8 88 95 94Community First Medical Center 4 63 63 80Delnor Hospital 2 60 75 100Edward Hospital 5 50 56 91Elmhurst Memorial Hospital 2 33 33 100Evanston Hospital 1 50 50 100Franciscan St. Anthony Health: Crown Point 2 100 100 100Franciscan St. Margaret Health: Dyer 2 67 67 100Franciscan St. Margaret Health: Hammond 2 60 71 83Glenbrook Hospital 1 33 33 75Gottlieb Memorial Hospital 2 75 75 100Holy Cross Hospital 2 67 67 100Ingalls Hospital 4 57 57 88John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County 8 53 65 82Kishwaukee Community Hospital 1 100 100 100Little Company of Mary Hospital & Health Care 2 67 50 75Loretto Hospital 1 100 100 100Loyola University Medical Center 14 68 72 87MacNeal Hospital 3 60 60 90Memorial Medical Center 3 58 58 87

Donation Donation Timely Organ Conversion Authorization NotificationHospital Donors Rate Rate Rate

*Hospitals with at least one organ donor through 12/31/15. Note: Data subject to change due to Gift of Hope’s quality assurance process.

14 CONNECTIONS

Organ DonorsDonors from whom one or more organs were recovered for the purpose of transplantation. This includes both donation after brain death, or DBD, donors and donation after circulatory death, or DCD, donors.

Donation Conversion RateThe rate at which potential donors are converted to actual donors, expressed as a percentage.

Donation Authorization RateThe rate at which authorization for donation is obtained, expressed as a percentage.

Timely Notification RateThe rate at which hospitals contact Gift of Hope after a death or within one hour after an individual meets the criteria for imminent death and before the withdrawal of life-sustaining therapies, expressed as a percentage.

DE

FIN

ITIO

NS

Mercy Hospital and Medical Center 1 33 33 100Methodist Hospital: Northlake 3 83 100 86Methodist Hospital: Southlake 2 50 67 80Metro South Medical Center 2 67 100 100Morris Hospital 1 100 100 50Mount Sinai Hospital Medical Center 11 58 58 100Northwest Community Hospital 6 86 86 100Northwestern Memorial Hospital 11 68 73 85Norwegian American Hospital 2 33 50 100OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center 4 89 89 82OSF Saint Francis Medical Center 39 76 80 98OSF St. Joseph Medical Center 3 75 75 67Palos Community Hospital 1 25 33 100Presence Covenant Medical Center 1 100 100 100Presence Mercy Medical Center 2 75 100 80Presence Resurrection Medical Center 2 27 36 92Presence St. Francis Hospital 5 63 56 100Presence St. Joseph Hospital 2 50 60 83Presence St. Joseph Medical Center 8 75 79 95Riverside Medical Center 2 50 40 71Rockford Memorial Hospital 9 78 78 100Rush University Medical Center 17 54 59 95Rush-Copley Memorial Hospital 3 80 67 100Saint Anthony Hospital 3 100 100 100Silver Cross Hospital 6 80 82 85Skokie Hospital 1 50 67 100St. Alexius Medical Center 3 50 50 91St. Bernard Hospital and Healthcare Center 1 100 100 100St. Catherine Hospital 1 50 100 67St. John’s Hospital 10 78 78 96St. Mary Medical Center 3 50 75 57Swedish Covenant Hospital 7 75 82 100UnityPoint Health: Methodist 3 100 100 100UnityPoint Health: Proctor 1 100 100 100UnityPoint Health: Trinity 1 50 33 100University of Chicago Medicine 10 50 68 81University of Illinois Medical Center 10 76 81 95Vista Medical Center: East 8 100 100 92West Suburban Medical Center 3 67 100 88Total 379 66% 71% 90%

Donation Donation Timely Organ Conversion Authorization NotificationHospital Donors Rate Rate Rate

STATE OF DONATION

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The number of people waiting for heart, liver, kidney, lung, pancreas or small bowel transplants as of Dec. 31, 2015.

in Indianain Illinois5,072* 1,473*

in the U.S.121,593*

* Based on data from the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network

GIFT OF HOPE DONATION ACTIVITY MAKE A DIFFERENCE! REGISTER TO BE AN ORGAN AND TISSUE DONORGIFTOFHOPE.ORG

ILLINOIS ORGAN/TISSUE DONOR REGISTRY

5,925,60258%

22

:10 25300

As of Dec. 31, 2015

Of adults (18 or older) in Illinois are registered as organ and tissue donors.

An average of 22 people die each day while waiting for a transplant.

Every 10 minutes, a new person is added to the national transplant waiting list.

One donor can save or enhance the lives of more than 25 people.

In 2015, more than 300 people registered for transplants in Illinois died while waiting.

2015* 2014* ChangeOrgan Donors 379 334 13.47%Organs Transplanted 1,077 1,019 5.69%Organs Per Donor 2.84 3.05 -6.89%Tissue Donors 1,794 1,920 -6.56%Bone Donors** 1,555 1,347 15.44%Heart Valve Donors** 167 210 -20.48%Skin Donors* 746 1,371 -45.59%

*Through Dec. 31 **Subset of Tissue Donors

425 Spring Lake Drive Itasca, IL 60143

ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED

FPOINDICIA

TO BE ADDED BY PRINTER

To learn more about organ and tissue donation, visit GiftofHope.org

Gift of Hope partnered with the Chicago Wolves on March 12 for a night focused on the gift of donation with a little bit of hockey mixed in. The Wolves generously offered Gift of Hope a large block of tickets to a game held that night at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill., to help raise public awareness of organ and tissue donation. The event gave Gift of Hope staff members, donor family members and transplant recipients the opportunity to show their “purple pride” in being donation advocates and to encourage hockey fans in attendance to support the donation cause via social media. At the event, several donor families and transplant recipients were publicly recognized and honored.

Calendar of Events For more information on these and other events, visit GiftofHope.org.

April 1National Donate Life Month

April 9Red Shoe Run for Donor AwarenessRockford, Ill.Redshoerun.org

April 14, 28From Tragedy to Hope: Rewriting the StorySeminars for Hospital ProfessionalsGift of Hope Organ & Tissue Donor Network Itasca and Springfield, Ill.

April 28 - 30Christie Clinic Illinois Marathon and Health & Fitness ExpoUrbana-Champaign, Ill.Illinoismarathon.com

May 18A Mission of Honor and HopeSeminar for Funeral and Forensic Service ProfessionalsHoliday Inn – ItascaItasca, Ill.

May 28Gift of Hope Donor Memorial DedicationSouthwind ParkSpringfield, Ill.

June 6 – 7, 9 – 10World Religions SeminarGift of Hope Organ & Tissue Donor Network Itasca and Springfield, Ill.

Donation Nets a Win at Chicago Wolves Donation Night