With the cost of a transplant often exceeding $500,000, many transplant families are unable to shoulder the financial burden of such a procedure. The Children’s Organ Transplant Association (COTA) is a national charity dedicated to organizing and guiding communities in raising funds for transplant-related expenses.  In Ellsworth, volunteers are raising funds for COTA in honor of transplant patients like local teen, Caleb Gibson. 

Caleb is a 17 year old from Ellsworth, Maine with cystic fibrosis. Approximately 4% of patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) have CF related liver disease, Caleb is one of these cases. The doctors at Boston Children’s Hospital in Massachusetts, have recommended a life-saving liver transplant.  An estimated $50,000 is being raised by caring volunteers.

The Children’s Organ Transplant Association (COTA) helps children and young adults who need a life-saving transplant by providing fundraising assistance and family support. COTA is the nation’s only fundraising organization solely dedicated to raising life-saving dollars in honor of transplant-needy children and young adults. 100% of each contribution made to COTA in honor of our patients helps meet transplant-related expenses. COTA’s services are free to our families, and gifts to COTA are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.