TOLEDO, Ohio — Did you know you have the power to save eight lives? If you have never thought of yourself as a hero, maybe now is the time to start.
WTOL 11 and Life Connection of Ohio, the non-profit organization that serves families and saves lives in northwest and west central Ohio, are partnering to host the 13th annual Donate Life Sit-in. The event will happen from 9 a.m., April 19 to 9 a.m., April 20.
Each year, this marathon event takes place at WTOL 11, where transplant recipients, donor family members and those who support the cause rotate in and out of Life Connection of Ohio’s Green Chair.
WTOL 11 will air live interviews with transplant recipients and donor family members. Those not participating through live interviews are encouraged to snap a picture of themselves in their favorite chair and share it on social media using #virtualdonatelifesitin and #takeaseattotakeastand.
Nearly 110,000 people in the United States are awaiting life-saving transplants right now. More than 3,000 of them are Ohioans.
The organ shortage continues to grow at a staggering rate, as another person is added to the waiting list every 10 minutes. Sadly, 20 people die every day waiting for an organ transplant.
The good news is: One person has the power to save up to eight lives through organ donation and heal 125 more through tissue donation.
The Green Chair’s meaning is two-fold. When it is empty, the Green Chair represents overwhelming sadness from the loss of someone who died waiting for a transplant.
But when someone is sitting in the Green Chair, it showcases a transplant recipient’s second chance at life. The tagline of the Green Chair Campaign is “Don’t let another chair go empty” because encouraging more people to register as organ donors means there will be fewer empty chairs.
The Donate Life Sit-in will make that tagline a reality, and the timing of the event could not be more crucial.
For more information on how you can become an organ donor visit the Life Connection website.
Here is a complete list of participants in this year's Donate Life Sit-In:
Wednesday, April 19
9 - 9:30 a.m.: Tammy Sprow, wife of donor hero (Cory)
9:30 - 10 a.m.: Dave Engeman, heart recipient
10 - 10:15 a.m.: Nikki Tuck, sister of liver recipient
10:15 - 10:30 a.m.: Connie Sanderson, grandmother of donor hero (Elena)
10:30 - 10:45 a.m.: Kelly Yakumithis, mother of donor hero (Elena)
10:45 - 11 a.m.: Ken Dumminger, liver recipient
11 - 11:20 a.m. Rochelle Russel and Jodie Summers, mother and friend of donor hero (Bree)
11:20 - 11:40 a.m.: Charlie Grindle, kidney recipient
11:40 a.m. - noon: Katie Gankosky and Paul Evans, aunt and grandfather of two heart recipients
noon - 12:30 p.m.: Sue Miller and Macel Gibbs, living donor and her kidney recipient
12:30 - 1 p.m.: Sandy Flick and Jamie Adams, daughter and granddaughter of donor hero (Mary)
1 - 1:20 p.m.: John Glinka, living kidney donor
1:20 - 1:40 p.m.: JoLynn Curtis and Marsha Kaufman, mother and grandmother of donor hero (Jessica)
1:40 - 2 p.m.: Patty Majors, tissue recipient
2 - 2:15 p.m. Rob Rice and David Anderson, supporters (LCO's Learfield Sports partners)
2:15 - 2:30 p.m.: Jeff Abke, cornea recipient
2:30 - 2:45 p.m.: John Tenant, kidney recipient
2:45 - 3 p.m.: John Fleischmann, kidney recipient
3 - 3:15 p.m.: Andrea Schultz, mother of liver recipient
3:15 - 3:30 p.m.: Mallory Abbott, heart recipient
3:30 - 3:45 p.m.: Aimee Montrie, sister of donor hero (Monica)
3:45 - 4 p.m.: Pam Maluso, wife of liver recipient
4 - 4:15 p.m.: Sue Moentor, wife of double lung recipient
4:15 - 4:30 p.m.: Doug and Melinda Nappenbach, parents of donor hero (Bryce)
4:30 - 4:45 p.m.: Jazmine McMurray, kidney recipient
4:45 - 5 p.m.: Laurie and John Clemons, parents of donor hero (Brandon)
5 - 5:30 p.m.: Tonya Gomez, double lung recipient
5:30 - 6 p.m.: Kevin and Kim Oxender, parents of donor hero (Kaleb)
6 - 6:30 p.m.: Kathi and Russ Flew, parents of donor hero (Dylan)
6:30 - 7 p.m.: Kevin Fultz, son of donor hero (Michael Keith)
7 - 7:20 p.m.: Judy Hamrick, wife of double lung recipient
7:20 - 7:40 p.m.: Danielle Rywalski, liver recipient
7:40 - 8 p.m.: Lisa Caughhorn, friend of liver recipient
8 - 8:20 p.m.: Bill Baker, kidney recipient
8:20 - 8:40 p.m.: Heather Dreier, daughter of donor hero (Tom)
8:40 - 9 p.m.: Gary Hageman, heart recipient
9 - 9:20 p.m.: Allen Rutter, living kidney donor
9:20 - 9:40 p.m.: Kendra Deken, mother of donor hero (Terryell)
9:40 - 10 p.m.: Aaron Kloshen, kidney/pancreas recipient
10 - 10:20 p.m.: Elena Kennard, small intestine recipient
10:20 - 10:40 p.m.: Greg Dawson, multi-organ recipient
10:40 - 11 p.m.: Michelle Lewallen, mother of double lung recipient
11 - 11:30 p.m.: George Mullan, heart recipient
11:30 - 12 a.m.: Scott Hutchinson, supporter
Thursday, April 20
12 a.m.- 4:30 a.m.: Life Connection Staff
4:30 - 5 a.m.: Nadine Kalpakidis, LCO Manager of Recovery Services
5 - 5:30 a.m.: Kara Steele, LCO Director of Community Services
5:30 - 6 a.m.: Bill Albert, liver recipient
6 - 6:30 a.m.: Rick Brown, kidney/pancreas recipient
6:30 - 7 a.m.: Allison and Jenny Herr, liver recipient and her mother
7 - 7:30 a.m.: Sara Satkowski, kidney recipient
7:30 - 8 a.m.: John Shafer, heart recipient
8 - 8:20 a.m.: Carol Ann Allen, tissue recipient
8:20 - 8:40 a.m.: Joe Stubler and Stacy Jankowski, kidney/pancreas recipient and his daughter
8:40 - 9 a.m.: Sandy Miller and Anna Miller, living kidney donor and her granddaughter
9 a.m.: Dwayne and Lori Palmer, parents of donor hero (Tyler)
DONATE LIFE SIT-IN 2023:
Here is a recap of all of our Donate Life Sit-In coverage.
Donate Life Sit-In 2022: