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.  Volunteers are raising funds for COTA in honor of transplant patients like young Helen Lynn, now seven years old.

Born in Alaska, Helen was diagnosed with Chronic Kidney Disease after her battle with E.coli/HUS when she was just two. After two years of being on and off dialysis Helen got her new kidney from her SUPER HERO from Healy, AK. In 2015, at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, in Portland, OR, her donor, Lori, got a little lighter, and Helen got a lot healthier! Helen is now almost three years post-transplant, stable and grateful for the daily gifts Lori’s kidney provides.