A story from the July 2008 issue of Parents magazine:
“Janice Ross was scared when she found out her 9-year-old daughter, Adrienne, would need heart-transplant surgery. But the six-month wait for a heart–with much of that time spent in the hospital–turned out to be the biggest challenge for the Ross family. To keep herself occupied, Adrienne decided to reaise money from her hospital room to support the National Kidney Foundation’s U.S. Transplant Games, an Olympics-like event for transplant patients. She had a lemonade stand in the hospital hallway and gave manicures from her bed, raising nearly $600. But she wanted to do more. At the same time, several Wal-Mart stores in the Birmingham, Alabama, area heard her story and offered to help–and ultimately Adrienne raised nearly $31,000. Their daughter’s generous spirit inspired Janice and her husband, Adrian, to start their own organization, the Children’s Care-A-Lot Foundation, to help families who are going througha similar struggle. “We want so desperately to get the word out about being an organ donor,” says Janice. “Giving someone life–that’s the ultimate gift.” Adrienne’s heart transplant was a success, and she’ll compete this month at the transplant games in Pittsburgh. For more information, go to transplantgames.org.”
“Parents donated $500 to the Transplant Games in Adrienne’s name. To nominate your organization or community service project for Power of Parents and be considered for a donation, e-mail us at advocacy@parentsmag.com.”
Tags: charity, Children's Care-A-Lot, heart transplant, organ donor, Parents magazine, philanthropy, transplant, transplant games
