U.S. Games
Who Should Attend
Transplant Recipients — Living Life
At the NKF U.S. Transplant Games, there are many events and activities designed for YOU. You are given many opportunities to meet other transplant recipients from around the country, share your transplant story, honor your donor, improve your health and fitness and support the thousands of other patients who are still waiting for their second chance at life.
If your most recent life-saving solid organ transplant (including allogenic bone marrow/stem cell) has been functioning for at least six months, you, as a transplant recipient, are eligible to compete in the following sports:
Badminton
Basketball
Bowling
Cycling
Golf
Racquetball
5K road race
Swimming
Table Tennis
Tennis
Track & Field
Volleyball
Medals will be awarded to the top finishers in each of seven age categories to balance the competition.
Click the links below for more information:
Registration Upgrades (Meal Plan, Kids' Time Excursions, etc.)
Transplant Recipient's Top Reasons for Attending the NKF U.S. Transplant Games
Adapted from a Top 50 list by Ana Stenzel, Lung Transplant Recipient, Team Nor-Cal
- Being alive and present with people who “get it.”
- Team Spirit: “Go Team Nor- Cal!”
- Running the 100 m dash with five other double-lung recipients with cystic fibrosis- a whole new generation of us “cured” from CF.
- Thanking God with others.
- Meeting Donor families and saying “Thank you.”
- Conversations on the Shuttle bus – connecting with total strangers.
- Winning two medals.
Donor Families — Giving New Life
Donor families are invited to participate in Giving, Grieving, Growing™ workshops on organ donation, which include sharing sessions for grieving families, an art therapy session to honor your loved one(s) and more. The Donor Recognition Ceremony will give you an opportunity to honor your loved one for their life and gifts, and you can meet and share with organ recipients of all ages at the Coffeehouse. The NKF 2006 U.S. Transplant Games brought together hundreds of families in Louisville, and we expect more in Pittsburgh! Donor families who haven't submitted a square to the Quilt honoring their loved one can bring it to our Quilt Pinning Ceremony.
Click the links below for more information:
Giving, Grieving, Growing™ Program
Registration Upgrades
(Meal Plan, Kids' Time Excursions, etc.)
Top Reasons Donor Families Should Attend the Games
Here’s what donor families tell us about their experience at the Games:
- The Games are a very "safe" place for all donor families. Everyone understands the road we have taken. While our story is individual, our pain and outcome is the same. It really helped me to have that understanding from others. Some of us don't have family and friends that understand the donation process—at the Games we are understood.
- Attending the Games reassures you that your loved one’s gift of life was indeed a gift of love and honor.
- It is an opportunity for tears, laughter, and many hugs!
- It is an opportunity for you to be yourself among people who know and understand.
- You can meet recipients in action – on the courts, on the track, in the pool – see and experience their renewed quality of life as a result of receipt of your very generous gift.
- The Games help remind us what brings us together gives us hope!
TRIBUTES TO DECEASED ORGAN AND TISSUE DONORS
All photos and tributes must be received by June 5th.
VIDEO TRIBUTES TO DECEASED DONORS
Donor families (who are attending the Donor Recognition Ceremony) can send a photo of their loved one for the video.
- We can only accept one photo per donor.
- Photos may be color or black & white, at least 3” x 5”; JPG or GIF format is preferred. Photos will not be returned: do not send originals.
- Include the donor’s full name (as it should appear in the video) and indicate that the photo is for a deceased donor.
- Include a contact name, phone number and e-mail in case of questions
- You can e-mail your photo to donorfamily@kidney.org with “DF Games Photo” in the subject line. You should receive a confirmation that your photo was received - if not, contact the NKF. Deadline: June 5, 2008.
WRITTEN TRIBUTES TO DECEASED DONORS
The 2008 NKF US Transplant Games souvenir journal will include written tributes from donor families to their loved ones.
- How to send a tribute: Note that we can only accept one tribute per donor. If other family members or friends are attending the Games, please write your tribute together.
- Please send the following information, which will be printed in the souvenir journal:
- Donor name: The donor’s full name (as it should appear). Also, please indicate that the tribute is a deceased donor.
- Family/Friends; Names of family members/friends to print with the tribute (For example, “The Hall Family” or “Janice and Mike Thomas” or “Mom and Dad”)
- Tribute: 200 characters or less, including spaces. While it may be difficult to share your thoughts in so few words, tributes exceeding the limit will be edited to meet space restrictions. Poetry may also be reformatted to fit the space. (The donor name and family/friends are not included in the limit.)
- Include a contact name, phone and e-mail in case of questions.
- When you register for the Games, you will have an opportunity to send a tribute. You may also e-mail your tribute to donorfamily@kidney.org with “Donor Family Tribute” in the subject line. Deadline: June 5, 2008.
We prefer an e-mailed photo and tribute. You can also mail your photo or tribute to:
National Kidney Foundation
Attn: Marilyn Jones
30 East 33rd Street
New York, NY 10016
Transplant Professionals — Continuing Life
Over the years, the Games have attracted hundreds of Transplant Professionals—from those in the operating and therapy rooms to those in research labs. In addition to celebrating the lives that transplanted organs have saved as well as those who gave those organs, the Games openly invites all professionals to come and experience the results of their work first-hand. These professionals have had the delight to share celebrated and cherished moments with their patients, which wouldn’t have occurred without their medical abilities.
With the NKF 2008 U.S. Transplant Games in Pittsburgh, we are thrilled to be in the company of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), which has not only performed the most transplants of any other hospital, but is home to more of the world’s transplant experts than anywhere else in the world. With the leading surgeons, nurses, physicians and researchers within five miles of this year’s venues, we welcome them to experience and celebrate some of the lives they’ve helped save.
At every Transplant Games, we ask a few professionals to speak. The 2008 Games welcome the following Transplant Professionals to the stage:
TBD
Click the links below for more information:
Registration Upgrades (Meal Plan, Kids' Time Excursions, etc. )
Top Reasons Transplant Professionals Should Attend the Games
- To feel pride in the profession.
- To experience transplants recipients living life fully.
- To watch how high a transplant recipient can jump, how fast he or she can run, and how well he or she can swim.
- To hear the stories and experiences of donor families who made this possible.
- To celebrate living donors who gave the gift of life and are doing well physically and emotionally in their lives.
- To let our families experience why we work late nights, weekends and wake up in the middle of the nights (they will see the fruits of our labor).
Living Donors — Sharing Life
This will be our fourth Living Donor Recognition Event! Because of the growing number of Living Donors in the United States each year, we make sure Living Donors of all organs are honored and celebrated for their special gifts of life. The event will feature tributes, music, a pin exchange and special surprises. The Games will also feature Sharing Sessions for Living Donors, a 5K Race for Donation, and the Donor-Recipient Golf Outing.
Click the links below for more information:
Registration Upgrades (Meal Plan, Kids' Time Excursions, etc. )
Top Reasons Living Donors Should Attend the Games
Here’s what living donors and their families tell us:
- If no one has thanked you yet (or you don't even think you need to be thanked), go and receive the thanks and love that you deserve from people you don't even know. It feels good to be honored for your selfless act of love and you deserve it!
- It means so much to the recipients to have their donors with them in spirit and in person!
- It is an honor to experience the Transplant Games through the successes of the transplant recipients. To survive, to flourish, to be given a second chance at life...that is an inspiration. It's what makes the Transplant Games such a celebration of life.
- It’s a wonderful opportunity for living donors to share stories and experiences with others who have done the same thing.
- You’ll get to march together with all the other living donors in the Opening Ceremonies.
- You get to see the gift of life that you have given in action!
TRIBUTES TO LIVING ORGAN AND TISSUE DONORS
All photos and tributes must be received by June 5th.
VIDEO TRIBUTES TO LIVING DONORS
Living donors (or their families or friends) can send a photo for the Living Donor Recognition Event. The photo can be of the living donor OR the donor and recipient.
- We can only accept one photo per donor.
- Photos may be color or black & white, at least 3” x 5”; JPG or GIF format is preferred. Photos will not be returned: do not send originals.
- Include the donor’s full name (as it should appear in the video) and indicate that the photo is for a living donor.
- Include a contact name, phone number and e-mail in case of questions.
- Please indicate what was donated (kidney, bone marrow, partial liver, etc.), the relationship to the recipient (mother, father, brother, stranger, etc.) and the recipient name, if known.
- Please e-mail your photo to livingdonors@kidney.org with “LD Games Photo” in the subject line. You should receive a confirmation that your photo was received - if not, contact the NKF. Deadline: June 5, 2008.
WRITTEN TRIBUTES TO LIVING DONORS
The 2008 NKF US Transplant Games souvenir journal will include written tributes to living donors who are attending the Games.
- How to send a Tribute: Note that we can only accept one tribute per donor. If other family members or friends are attending the Games, please write your tribute together.
- Please send the following information, which will be printed in the souvenir journal:
- Donor name: The donor’s full name (as it should appear). Also, please indicate that the tribute is for a living donor.
- Family/Friends: Names of family members/friends to print with the tribute (For example, “The Hall Family” or “Janice and Mike Thomas” or “Mom and Dad”)
- Tribute: 200 characters or less, including spaces. While it may be difficult to share your thoughts in so few words, tributes exceeding the limit will be edited to meet space restrictions. Poetry may also be reformatted to fit the space. (The donor name and family/friends are not included in the limit.)
- Include a contact name, phone and e-mail in case of questions.
- When you register for the Games, you will have an opportunity to send a tribute. You may also e-mail your tribute to livingdonors@kidney.org with “Living Donor Tribute” in the subject line. Deadline: June 5, 2008.
We prefer an e-mailed photo and tribute. You can also mail your photo or tribute to:
National Kidney Foundation
Attn: Marilyn Jones
30 East 33rd Street
New York, NY 10016
Pittsburgh Community — Celebrating Life
With 2008 being the 16th anniversary of the Transplant Games, the structure and materials to organize the Games were set—except for the location. After analyzing multiple proposals and conducting many meetings, the Transplant Games committee was happy to announce Pittsburgh as the host city for 2008!
Especially because you, the Pittsburgh community, welcomes the Transplant Games to your city in 2008, we are delighted to invite you to celebrate life with us while we’re there! Come and experience lives that have been saved!
Click the links below for more information:
Registration Upgrades (Meal Plan, Closing Party Ticket, Kids' Time Excursions, etc. )
Top Reasons Why Pittsburghers Should Attend
- To experience transplant recipients living life fully.
- To hear stories and experiences of donor families who made this possible.
- To celebrate living donors who gave the gift of life, and to experience their physical and emotional wellness post-surgery.
- To relax and have fun.
- To submerse yourself in the transplantation community and go home with life-impacting stories.
- To see the outcome of transplantation advancements, which are largely attributed to the Pittsburgh medical community.
