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Northford Timber Framers Transplant Fund I started the Northford Timber Framers Transplant Fund in December of ’02 – one year after I was listed and waiting for a heart transplant. One year later my condition worsened to the point where I was recommended for an LVAD, an artificial heart pump. I received a Jarvik heart in February ’04. I lived with a cord coming out of my belly and connecte to a battery for the next nine months. On November 6th of 2004 I received the miracle of my life when I received my donor heart from a 51 year old woman from Boston. At this time she is unknown to me so I refer to her as my Boston girl. It has been two years for me of enjoying every minute of every day- grasping onto this second chance with all that I have. Each year has brought new challenges – climbing Mt. Washington, attending the USA Transplant Olympics last June in Louisville, Kentucky, continuing to lead and teach my NTF timber frame group, building barns and timber frames around New England – all in the name of awareness for organ donation. We have taken many donations and raised over $10,000 since I have started this fund. In the past these are some of the situations that we contributed to:
A little boy from Burlington, Vermont, who underwent a bone marrow transplant at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. A little boy from Connecticut who was at Sloane in New York with a brain tumor. An elderly heart recipient and her husband to help them to pay their heating bill this winter. A little boy from Hamden, Connecticut, who had a rare blood disorder. Two children from the Children’s hospital at Yale whose young parents were in dire straits and financial need. A donation to Hospice in Pennsylvania. A donation to Happy House, a situation in Haiti, where a family’s home was built and food was paid for for one year. A church in the Southbury area that sponsors Habitat for Humanity programs. To Charlie Company Connecticut National Guard – men and women serving in Afghanistan. We made two donations to their family services fund. We donated money to a young family for holiday presents this past Christmas. We have purchased tee shirts encouraging participation in our group. There is a heart on the back with crossed feathers. Each feather represents all of our guardian angels – those that we can see, represented by one feather and those that we cannot see, represented by the other feather. We all have these guardian angels. It also says on the back of these shirts – Be a miracle, be a donor. A donation to Team Connecticut, which enabled us to be a team sponsor – our name the Northford Timber Framers was on the back of our uniforms in Kentucky. A donation to a young man from the city in Stamford. He received a heart transplant at Yale and his family was having financial difficulties at Christmas time. A donation to a therapy-type horse farm where the horses are used for therapy and rehabilitation for autistic children and children with other challenges. They develop their skills of confidence, trust, acceptance and healing. I like to think that we are a charity by the people and for the people. There is no overhead. My wife and I and my group of Northford Timber Framers all volunteer their time at the class I teach each year and at all of the barn raisings that we have for past students and new students. A student or an associate of that person or their family is requested to make a donation to our transplant fund, although as you can see from above, not all of our donations are transplant specific. What is specific is that they are raised in the name of organ donation by a profoundly grateful heart recipient. To date, we are not an official charity. If you donate to our charity, you are trusting us. We post to our website each time we make a donation and we share within our circle of supporters. The cost of immunosuppressants and the risk of losing my social security benefits make me want to continue to operate below the radar. We do not have a tax number so any donation you make is truly in the name of charity and isn’t that the right reason to make a donation! Anyone could find themselves in the situation of needing a heart transplant or another type of organ. It could be you or it could be the most important person in the world to you – your children, your wife, your mother or father, your husband, your best friend. I believe that the fact that your path has crossed my path, it will not be the only time in your life that someone you know or maybe a friend of a friend will need a heart or another organ to sustain their life. Please be a part of this awareness. I hope that this never happens to you but if it does, don’t you want an organ to be available for you or your children! Sincerely, George D. Senerchia – Yale heart recipient November 6, 2004
Dad has had his donor heart for
days.
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