Okay, time for me to do my plug. As many of you know, I work for the Children's Organ Transplant Association. We provide fundraising assistance to children and young adults in need of life-saving transplants. We also work with adults with genetic disorders (usually diagnosed at birth or a young age, but they don't need the transplant until later in life). (The most common transplant-related genetic disorder is Cystic Fibrosis.) We have patients all over the U.S., including Louisiana and Mississippi. In our current campaigns (for patients who still need money), we have an adult in Thibodeaux, LA, not far from New Orleans who has received a double lung transplant. His name is Curt Faucheaux. The last thing we heard is that he is safe in his own, still standing, not flooded home. His campaign coordinator (the main volunteer) is a fireman, and is helping with the relief efforts in New Orleans. He has been busy, as the power is being turned back on, it is starting fires in addition to all the work on the relief efforts.
On Monday, August 29th, I received a patient agreement in the mail from the family of Dennis Estroso from D'Iberville, MS, just north of Biloxi. The volunteers the family has selected for their campaign are from Gulfport and Biloxi. We have not heard from this family or their volunteers. We have done our best to make them aware that we are there for them when they are ready, and we eagerly await their response. You can see Dennis by going to COTA.org, selecting Patient Campaigns, and choosing Dennis from the list (alphabetical by first name, or you can search).
COTA is a national 501c3 charity, and 100% of funds raised go towards transplant related expenses; we do not charge any fees or take any portion of the donation for operating costs. Many people have problems with other charities because they do take a portion of each donation. As I said above, Curt is fine, and we do not know what Dennis' current situation is, but if you are still unsure where to give, I want to make sure everyone is aware of this option.
That's fine, CP. Like I said, the patient that may need help is new, and I don't know if he needs help with hurricane related stuff or not. Most of our patients were not affected by the hurricane, their need is ongoing.
