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Gift of Life staff holding their hands in the shape of hearts
Blog, LifeLines | May 7, 2025

Gift of Life’s employee giving hits a new high

Nearly one-third of Gift of Life’s 394 employees gave back financially to the organization last year, the highest percentage yet for the payroll-deduction program that…

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His time as a nurse assistant at Mott helping pediatric heart patients is a full-circle experience for Tommy.
Blog, LifeLines, Stories of Hope | May 7, 2025

Tommy Schomaker survives and thrives helping sick kids like him

He graduated this spring with a nursing degree Tommy Schomaker entered the world in 2000 with half a heart. The otherwise-perfect 7-pound baby faced a…

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Patrick Wells-O'Brien, VP of communications and external affairs
Blog, LifeLines | April 30, 2025

Education legislation would bolster the Donor Registry

As VP of communications and external relations, Patrick also oversees legislative advocacy for Gift of Life Michigan. This is his update about the organization’s important…

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Hands holding rosary beads
Blog, LifeLines | April 29, 2025

Religion and organ, eye and tissue donation

Signing up to become an organ and tissue donor is a personal decision, shaped by individual, family and sometimes faith-based considerations. All major religions in…

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Deb Gustafson helps organize events where volunteers craft warm, fuzzy comfort blankets to help ease the grief of donor families.
Blog, LifeLines, Stories of Hope | April 28, 2025

Volunteer Spotlight: Deb Gustafson gets a kidney, then offers comfort to families from her heart

Deb Gustafson’s life changed at church one morning when a friend named Bonnie sidled up to her and whispered, “I want to be tested.”  Disease…

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Josie Springer is a donation coordinator who has traveled to hospitals across Michigan to care for donors and their heartbroken families for 29 years.
Blog, LifeLines | April 28, 2025

Staff Spotlight: Veteran Donation Coordinator Josie Springer lends skill and compassion to life-saving mission

As grieving parents prepared for their daughter to save lives as an organ donor, Gift of Life Michigan’s Josie Springer headed to a craft store…

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David Rozelle, heart transplant recipient
Blog, LifeLines, Stories of Hope | April 17, 2024

Transplant Throwback: David Rozelle

Name: David Rozelle Age: 86 Home: Kalamazoo, Michigan Transplant: Heart Why did you need a transplant and when did it happen? I had a serious…

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Blog, LifeLines | April 17, 2024

First-person authorization: What it is and how it works

Your decision to someday help others through donation cannot be overruled by anyone else A majority (57%) of adults in Michigan are registered organ and…

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Munson Medical Center sent nearly 50 people to the Champions Gala
Blog, LifeLines | April 17, 2024

Champions Gala recognizes leaders

Congratulations to the more than 20 people and organizations recognized this year for their extraordinary efforts to promote organ, eye and tissue donation in Michigan….

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Blog, LifeLines | April 17, 2024

Grateful “Kidney Sister” leaves $15,000 donation to Gift of Life

Shelly Robinet and her best friend Pat Folkertsma-Garrett called each other Kidney Sisters after Shelly donated a kidney to Pat in 2001. Their car license…

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2023 was a record year for Gift of Life Michigan with 578 organ donors and 1,858 tissue donors
LifeLines, News | April 17, 2024

Gift of Life sets organ and tissue records in 2023

Michigan’s donation success continues to mirror national trend Gift of Life Michigan had another record year in 2023. The state’s organ and tissue donation program…

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Blog, LifeLines | April 17, 2024

Staff Spotlight: Leslie Casperson is saving lives Up North

Hospital donation advocate builds culture of donation at northern Michigan hospitals When Leslie Casperson talks about her job, it sounds like poetry. “I get emotional…

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Evan Cotton
Blog, LifeLines | April 17, 2024

Volunteer Spotlight: Sixteen-year-old Evan Cotton and his new heart provide comfort

The days were long for high-schooler Evan Cotton as he waited in the hospital a year ago for his life to be saved with the…

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Ben, Karen and Mallaki Hayes
Blog, LifeLines, Stories of Hope | April 17, 2024

Mallaki receives the gift of life and a new family

Ben and Karen Hayes knew no one could care for the foster boy like they could A 7-year-old boy in the foster care system was…

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Tattoo on Joan Smith's arm of a heart with a tree growing out of it
Blog, LifeLines | April 17, 2024

Tattoos for life, hope & remembrance in Organ Donation

Tattoos are a lasting and creative way to express love and creativity for the people and ideas that matter in life. We’ve seen a lot…

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