Source: New Jersey Sharing Network
The 5K Celebration of Life raises awareness about the importance of organ & tissue donation and will help save lives. We need your support! Our new goal is $7,000!
We are participating in honor of Madison Rae, our 2 1/2 year old daughter, granddaughter, niece, cousin and sister.
Madison was a sweet, smart, healthy little girl that loved being outdoors whether she was at the beach, park, swimming in the pool, or just playing in the yard. She loved cheerleading with her aunt, playing hide and seek with her brother, having sleepovers with her cousin and absolutely loved taking care of her baby cousins.
Maddie also loved painting, helping in the kitchen, all things spooky, baby Yoda, ice pops and ketchup on everything. Maddie never failed to put a smile on even a stranger’s face, said “I love you” a dozen times a day, threw a fit if she forgot to give someone a kiss before she left, and gave the best hugs that we miss dearly.
Just two days after Thanksgiving, we brought Maddie to the ER with a slightly off, but seemingly normal cold. Not even a week later, we received the gut wrenching news that she wasn’t going to make it. Although our lives were shattered, we found some peace in the fact that Maddie’s heart was able to beat on and save a 1 year old boy who had never left the hospital.
Making Maddie’s Beach Angels gift of life has helped us on our healing journey in knowing that her strong heart — filled with so much love — is still out there beating and giving that little boy a chance at life.
Over 100,000 people in the United States are waiting for a life-saving transplant and nearly 4,000 live right here in New Jersey. Tens of thousands more need life-enhancing tissue or cornea transplants each year. One organ and tissue donor can save 8 lives and enhance the lives of over 75 others. But the waiting list is long and for many, organ and tissue donation can mean the difference between life and death. Your support brings us one step closer to providing the greatest gift of all… the gift of life.
Thank you for joining us to honor those who gave, pay tribute to those who received, offer hope to those who continue to wait, and remember the lives lost while waiting for the gift of life.