Largest Organ and Tissue Donation Event in U.S.: Seventh Annual Donate Life Run/Walk & Family Festival, Sat., April 25 at Cal State Fullerton
Posted on: Friday, 24 April 2009, 12:00 CDT
More than 7,000 Southlanders to Walk with Chikezie, Kris Jenner and Khloe Kardashian
LOS ANGELES, April 24 /PRNewswire/ --
What: More than 7,000 Southlanders, supported by area businesses and
transplant centers, join together at the Donate Life Run/Walk &
Family Festival, the largest Donate Life-themed community event
in the nation, to inspire Californians to be organ and tissue
donors. The event caps off National Donate Life Month with a
morning program featuring 18 Orange County mayors and city
council members walking with constituent families, a 65-vendor
family festival, and health screenings. The opening ceremony
includes emotional tributes and a dramatic release of doves by
donor family members and transplant recipients. Also onstage
giving their support will be Clear Channel Los Angeles radio
personalities Valentine & Irma, Manny On The Streets, and Al B.
Sure joined by "American Idol" favorite Chikezie, country singer
Hunter Brucks, and reality TV stars Kris Jenner and Khloe
Kardashian. Proceeds from the event will support Donate Life
California Organ & Tissue Donor Registry enrollment campaigns.
When: Saturday, April 25, 2008
7:00 a.m. - Registration begins
8:15 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. - Opening Ceremony with Keynote Speakers
9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. - Run/Walk
10:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. - Family Festival
Who: Keynote speakers include Newport Beach Fire Dept. Capt. Chad
Ponegalek honoring firefighter Kevin Pryor, who became a
seven-organ donor in June 2008 after fighting wildfires in
northern California; Cal State University Fullerton (CSUF) Prof.
Mike McGee and his living kidney donor, CSUF alumnus Amy
Caterina, both of Santa Ana; KIIS-FM's Manny On The Streets,
tissue recipient; Greg Ashlock, president, Clear Channel Los
Angeles; and event founder Kathleen Hostert, who donated a
kidney to her husband, Craig Hostert.
148 teams with nearly 3,000 participants - each wearing a
t-shirt and button featuring a photo of a loved one who gave
life in their passing - organized by family members of organ and
tissue donors, as well as teams celebrating transplant
recipients, transplant candidates and supporting business
entities, including:
-- "Celebrating Scott Davis" - 235 friends and family of Mindy
and Bill Davis, Huntington Beach, who will be walking with
their son Scott's liver recipient Lino Angel and his family
from Downey;
-- "Team Christine" - employees of Kaiser-Permanente Anaheim in
honor of Christine Cote, a 27-year old patient currently
waiting for a liver transplant;
-- "Team Mike McKay" - over 100 friends and family of 23-year
old Mike McKay of Wrightwood, a tissue donor who was a victim
of an avalanche near Mountain High Ski Resort in January
2008;
-- "Charlie's Angels" - friends and family of former Rams
offensive lineman Charlie Cowan, Fullerton, who passed away
April 29, 1998, while awaiting a kidney transplant;
-- "Andrew Ennabe Foundation" - family and friends of 19-year
old Andrew Ennabe, Rowland Heights, who was fatally struck by
a drunk driver;
-- "Team Ortega" - in support of Ed Ortega, La Habra, who has
participated in every Run/Walk despite being on dialysis.
Ortega has been waiting seven years for a kidney transplant;
-- Transplant surgeons and employees from event sponsors
Cedars-Sinai Comprehensive Transplant Center, UCI Medical
Center and St. Joseph Hospital Kidney Transplant Program
walking with patients;
-- Sixteen mayors and city council members from Orange County
cities including Brea, Cypress, Fountain Valley, Fullerton,
Huntington Beach, Irvine, La Habra, La Palma, Paramount,
Placentia, Westminister and Yorba Linda walking with
constituent donor family members and transplant recipients;
-- Moss Adams LLP, presenting sponsor of the Run/Walk; Aetna
Foundation; and Donate Life media partner Clear Channel.
Where: Memorial Grove at Cal State University Fullerton campus
800 State College Blvd., Fullerton, CA 92831
Photo Opportunities:
-- Circle of Life Garden with more than 110 photo-bearing signs
honoring donors and recipients;
-- Opening of eight baskets of doves in memory of loved ones;
-- Return of six floragraphs to families of donors who were
featured on the 2009 Donate Life Rose Parade float
Contact: Elena de la Cruz, (213) 479-4704, edelacruz@onelegacy.org
Rivian Bell or Lisa Bernfeld, JDI Communications, (310) 592-8423
or (888) 477-4329 (24/7), rlb@abmac.com or lbernfeld@jdipr.com
For more event information, visit www.donateliferunwalk.org.
For information about the Donate Life California Registry, visit www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org or, in Spanish, www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org
SOURCE Donate Life
Source: PR Newswire
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