Postponement Notice

The Lights for Life Neon 5K scheduled for Friday, April 3rd has been postponed due to Shelby County COVID-19 protocol. We are unsure of the new date, but will notify you once a new date has been set.

If you have additional questions email neon5k@transplants.org

 

Lights for Life Neon 5k!

Friday, April 3, 2020 at 7:00 p.m.

Lights for Life Neon 5K is a night glow run where we remember and honor organ donors and their families and celebrate life given to organ recipients.   Runners glow and music flow during NFT’s Neon 5k.  Don’t miss out on this family fun night.  Bring the children and run/walk for a great cause.  This is a wonderful opportunity for participants and sponsors alike.  Register below to walk/run.  If you’re interested in sponsoring this worthwhile event, please download the Sponsorship Packet to view sponsorship levels.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:

Stephanie Brookshaw, Associate Director of Development
901-680-5669 (O) | 901-684-1128 (F)
neon5k@transplants.org

About Our Beginnings

It was 1983—Flash Dance was a hit at the movies, the price of a first class stamp was 20 cents, and most organ transplants weren’t covered by insurance. That same year three Memphis women learned of a child who needed a liver transplant, and whose family had no way to pay for it. Their determination to help led to the founding of what is now National Foundation for Transplants.

Mary Clouse recalled how she and her two friends, Elyse Waldheim, (who died in 1998), and Liz Hull (who died in 1994), came to start a national non-profit organization that has helped thousands of transplant patients receive a second chance at life. “I read a story in the newspaper about a child from Louisiana whose father was in the military,” Mrs. Clouse said. “They needed a transplant and the dad’s insurance wasn’t going to pay for it. I called up Elyse and asked her to read the article. Our husbands had both been in the military, too. I said, ‘That could happen to us; we’re on Champus. I’m going to make a donation.’ ” After she and Elyse went to the hospital and made their donations, they were told that the transplant coordinator wanted to talk with them. “He told us there was such a big need by so many patients, we should start a non-profit organization to help them.

My first response was ‘I can’t! I have no idea how to do it; I have no experience with anything like that.’ But then I started thinking, ‘you know, why not?’ ” Transplantation expanded tremendously in the early 1990s and so did the need for financial assistance. The number of new patients turning to the organization doubled between 1992 and 1993. In 1998, the board of directors voted to change OTF’s name to National Foundation for Transplants (NFT), to reflect the organization’s national scope and its service to all types of transplant patients. In its first 20 years of existence, NFT paid out more than $9.7 million for patient medical expenses from NFT campaigns.

 

For all of our success, there are more patients every year who need our help. Help us fulfill our mission.

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