CHARLESTON, WV – Sept. 14, 2025 – The Center for Organ Recovery & Education (CORE) hosted its annual A Special Place ceremony on Sunday, September 14, 2025, honoring the region’s organ, tissue and cornea donors who Saved and Healed lives in 2024. More than 40 families from throughout the Mountain State gathered for the event at The Clay Center at 1 Clay Square in Charleston, W.Va.

The ceremony recognized the 127 West Virginia organ donors who selflessly saved the lives of 288 thankful recipients nationwide, as well as the 535 West Virginias who, as cornea donors, restored sight to 169 individuals and provided healing to more than 40,000 people through tissue donation. Together, these heroes helped to make 2024 the sixth consecutive record-breaking year for donation in the region.

“I can promise each of you that your loved one will always be remembered as the true heroes of transplantation,” said Susan Stuart, CORE president and CEO, addressing donor families during the ceremony. “They gave a second chance to a grateful recipient without anything in return. Those recipients they saved and healed are, each day, witnessing the beauty of sunsets and hold the promise of new sunrises.”

In addition to Stuart, speakers included Jeff Bechtel, CORE board chair, and the following individuals whose lives have been touched by donation:

• Ali Cash, 29, from Summersville, W.Va., stood before fellow donor families—who know more than anyone the depths of her loss and her willingness to give—to honor the lives of her young son, Liam, and her husband, Ronnie, who both became donors earlier this “In the middle of heartbreak, I was given a choice — to let Liam’s story end there, or to let his life ripple outward,” Ali said. “Liam’s heart still beats, and so does mine. And Ronnie, too, continues to make a difference. As long as we keep speaking their names, as long as we keep telling their stories, none of our loved ones are ever truly gone.”
• Tyler Skidmore, a 31-year-old neurologist at WVU Thomas Memorial, shared his personal perspective as someone awaiting a kidney transplant. Diagnosed during medical school with a rare genetic kidney disease, Dr. Skidmore now undergoes daily dialysis while continuing to care for patients. “Dialysis impacts nearly every part of my life, from how I sleep to how I work,” he told the audience. “But I’m hopeful. I’ve seen through my mother’s transplants just how much of a difference donation can make. The gift of life from a donor means a new chance at living fully—for me, for my family, and for so many others.”
  
• Belinda Griggs, 69, from Charleston, Va., knows what it means to fight for life. Diagnosed with a rare kidney disease in her 30s, she endured 11 years of dialysis, countless hospital visits, and missed milestones with her family before finally receiving a kidney transplant in 2011. The gift transformed her life — restoring her health, her energy, and the ability to enjoy simple joys she once thought were gone forever. Now a CORE volunteer, she spoke at A Special Place ceremony to thank donor families on behalf of all transplant recipients. “I cannot express my gratitude enough to donor families for the gift of renewed life and hope,” Belinda said. “Because of you, people like me get to experience the simple joys again — walking on the beach, celebrating birthdays, spending time with children and grandchildren. On behalf of all of us who have been given this chance, thank you for your courage and your generosity.”

Donor family members pinned homemade quilt squares in remembrance of their loved ones. The ceremony concluded with a moving donor family honor walk and butterfly release. Musical guests include vocalist Mark Davis, pianist Mary Beth Norman, bagpiper Greg McVey and Harpist Melody Rapier. Rev. Matthew Friend, director of spiritual care at CAMC, gave the invocation.

A new person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 8 minutes and at least 13 will die each day without receiving the transplant they so desperately need. Still, only a third of West Virginians are registered as organ donors, despite the fact that anyone can register for the chance to help a neighbor in need. One person can save the lives of eight by donating organs and heal the lives of as many as 75 through tissue donation. Register as an organ, tissue and cornea donor today at core.org/register.

About CORE:

The Center for Organ Recovery & Education (CORE) is one of more than 50 federally designated not-for-profit organ procurement organizations (OPOs) in the United States, serving more than five million people in western Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Chemung County, New York. CORE coordinates the recovery and matching of organs, tissues and corneas for transplant within our service region and works tirelessly to create a culture of donation within the hospitals and communities we serve. CORE’s mission is to Save and Heal lives through donation, ultimately ending the deaths of those on the transplant waiting list, while maintaining integrity for the donation process, dignity for the donors, and compassion for their families.

CORE is a winner of the 2019 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, a presidential-level award that recognizes non- profits for their innovation and excellence. For more information, visit www.core.org or call 1-800-DONORS-7.

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