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Hello Everyone,
Summertime is here and we hope you are enjoying it to the fullest! This time of year we ramp up our outreach events to raise awareness about organ and tissue donation across the country, starting with ten stops on the Vans Warped Tour. This newsletter is to keep you informed about our upcoming activities and progress. As always, feel free to contact us anytime to share your story, ideas or learn about ways to help.
You may have noticed that our website has been inactive recently. Unfortunately, we were victims of a website hack a month ago that left us having to build a new site. The result has catapulted us into new website revisions we originally planned to do next year. One of the new plans is to feature more of your stories. Please contact us if you would like to share your gift of life tribute on our new website. Your contribution will provide hope, inspiration and comfort to thousands of readers. Watch for our website launch announcement on social media in the weeks ahead!
The Chris Klug Foundation is celebrating our ten year anniversary this fall and we couldn't have made it this far without you! We appreciate you supporting our work to save lives by increasing awareness about organ and tissue donation. Together, we are making a difference!
The Team at CKF
Stay connected through our social media for all the latest updates and info:
| MAKE A GIFT |
Donations to the Chris Klug Foundation enable us to continue spreading the message of organ and tissue donation far and wide. Please consider making a tax deductible donation to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. Every bit helps! Click here to donate |
| DONOR DUDES SHOUT OUTS |
Ameen Tabatabai was diagnosed with Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC) at 10 years old, the same disease our founder Chris Klug had. Eight years went by before Ameen was placed on the transplant waiting list for a liver. He remained positive throughout, finding joy and motivation through his family, hobbies and schoolwork. After graduating from Redmond High School with a 4.0 GPA, Ameen started college at University of Washington to pursue a bioengineering degree. He was off to a great start, but eventually PSC started to take its toll on his body and he needed to take some time away from school. He was placed on the waiting list in October of 2010 and received his lifesaving liver transplant December 20, 2010.
Ameen is doing great! He honors his donor by living a healthy and active lifestyle and promotes the philosophy that “anything is possible after a transplant.” The University of Washington student is currently training for his third half-marathon along with regularly playing basketball, staying on top of school and volunteering his time with Team Transplant and other organ donation organizations.
“I wasn’t going to let this disease get in the way of anything in my life,” Ameen shared. “I’m going to be a role model; I’m one of the ones who survived. My life is just beginning. I can do whatever I want to do. Nothing is holding me back."
We were honored to have Ameen lead our Donor Dudes booth at the Vans Warped Tour Seattle on June 15. Thanks for sharing your story with us, Ameen and keep up the great work. You are an inspiration to us all!
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| Rowan University Donor Day |
For 20 years Rowan University in New Jersey has hosted an on campus “Donor Day” during National Donate Life Month. The students plan and execute a fun event with creative activities to educate peers about organ and tissue donation. Donor Dudes has had the privilege of supplying educational materials and swag for the last several years. This year 55 new donors were registered! Thank you Rowan University, strong work!
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| AAPHERD Convention |
| The American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance held a national convention in North Carolina in April. Our Donor Dudes video coordinator, Carmen Dowley, hosted a table at the expo to share our free donor education tool with hundreds of teachers. In fact, she handed out 425 packets and spoke to 21 different departments of education directors! This is tremendous progress in achieving our goal to have our video in every health and driver’s education class in the nation!
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| AYPA Nonprofit Fair |
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The Aspen Young Professional Association hosted their annual nonprofit fair on May 23 to showcase many wonderful causes within the Roaring Fork Valley. Our local board members, Michael Woodrow, Bob Wade, Jon Gibans and Chris Klug, were there to speak to many people about our cause and ways to get involved to help save lives. Our new Summit for Life event managers from Bluebird Productions were also there to promote the 8th Annual Aspen Summit for Life Dec 6-7, 2013.
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| Vans Warped Tour - June 16 - July 21 |
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One of our annual donor awareness events is the Vans Warped Tour. Each year we are part of the popular punk rock concerts in Denver, Salt Lake City, Portland and other major cities. These events would not be possible without the help of our amazing Donor Dudes volunteers and our friends at the Organ Procurement Organizations. We have secured 10 stops on the tour calendar this year! The tour kicked off this past weekend in Seattle and Portland where our volunteers spoke to hundreds of teenagers about organ & tissue donation and encouraged them to discuss their decision with their families. The donor advocates in Portland (through Donate Life Northwest) registered 35 new donors. We will post pictures from each event on our Facebook page as they come in.
Thank you for your help everyone, nice teamwork!
Remaining Cities:
Salt Lake City, UT June 29 - Denver, CO June 30
Holmdel, NJ July 7 - Washington D.C. July 10 - Boston, MA July 11 - Camden, NJ July 12 - Scranton, PA July 16 - Chicago, IL July 20
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| Donor Dash - July 21 |
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Registration is open for the 13th Annual Donor Dash in Denver, CO. The Donor Dash is for runners, walkers and families to honor the lives of organ & tissue donors, celebrate the lives of organ & tissue recipients and recognize those waiting for a lifesaving transplant. CKF is proud to be a sponsor again this year. Look for our black CKF tent in the sponsor village before and after the race. If you still need to register, consider joining team Donor Dudes! Click here and follow the registration links to "Register on an Existing Team." Donor Dudes team members will receive one of our brand new "Live Life, Give Life" T-shirts! Team registrations must be completed by July 12. Please let us if you have questions.
Look forward to seeing some of you on Sunday, July 21.
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| Liver Life Walk - August 4 |
A future free of liver disease - that is the goal of the volunteers and staff of the American Liver Foundation. And we could not agree more! On Sunday, August 4 CKF will join the fight against liver disease at the Liver Life Walk , a 5k run/walk at City Park Pavilion in Denver. Join us in supporting the American Liver Foundation’s mission to move forward in the fight against one of America’s fastest growing public health concerns - liver disease.
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| Leadville Trail 100 Team CKF - August 10 |
Our 2013 Leadville 100 Team CKF is in full swing with their training and fundraising! The 100 mile mountain bike race will take place on Saturday, August 10. The course climbs over 14,000 vertical feet starting and ending at 10,000 ft elevation! We have 14 team members, including Chris Klug, who have committed to raising awareness about organ & tissue donation while fundraising for CKF. Funds raised through this event will benefit the Chris Klug Foundation’s programs. Our foundation is extremely grateful to each person on the team and those who will be supporting them throughout the way. Meet the team!
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| USA Pro Challenge - August 19-25 |
August 19-25 the world’s top cyclists will race through Colorado in front of one million spectators. Yeah, we’re in! After two years of being part of the USA Pro Challenge we have found it to be a very effective way to speak to thousands of people about the dire need of organ & tissue donation. We’re back in the cycling action this year with our booth at each finish stage of the race. Seven cities in seven days to increase the number of registered organ and tissue donors. Learn more about the race here, and let us know if you’re interested in volunteering in any of the finish cities.
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| ING New York City Marathon - November 3 |
CKF has a second team of philanthropic athletes who will participate in 2013 ING New York City Marathon on Sunday, November 3. Last year our team of five raised a total of $14,450 to benefit the Chris Klug Foundation’s mission to save lives by increasing awareness about organ & tissue donation. Since they weren’t able to run the race last year due to the cancellation, four of last year’s team members chose to return to New York this year, along with five new CKF charity team members. A total of nine men and women will run New York's five boroughs on what’s expected to be the most exciting New York marathon of all time! We are so grateful to have these individuals supporting the cause and proud of them for taking on the challenge of running 26.2 miles, two of which are organ recipients!
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| 8th Annual Aspen Summit for Life - December 6-7 |
Our 8th Annual Aspen Summit for Life is six months away! If you haven't participated in this event yet, this is your year! Join us on December 7 for a fun, challenging and rewarding nighttime hike up Aspen Mountain. Participants of all levels hike 2.5 miles over 3,000 vertical feet to promote living a healthy and active life post transplant. Our event planners, Bluebird Productions, have been busy preparing our new Summit for Life race website and planning for the big event. We encourage you to share the race with your friends and colleagues, and don't forget about the great prizes for the top fundraisers (Like a Caribbean vacation)!
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| GET INVOLVED AS A DONOR DUDE: |
Donor Dudes is our education program targeting teenagers through action sports. To be a "Donor Dude" means sharing the lifesaving message of donation in a fun and creative way. It can be hosting your own donor awareness event at school, in your community or even starting a Donor Dudes club! We'll provide you with the information and materials you need to be successful. Please contact us anytime to learn more about how to get involved.
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Have a fun filled summer!
Jenny Dziura
Executive Director
Chris Klug Foundation
www.chrisklugfoundation.org
info@chrisklug.org
970.216.2511
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