WHO: The Center for Organ Recovery & Education (CORE)

WHAT: A Special Place, CORE’s annual memorial ceremony for the families of all organ, tissue and cornea donors who have saved or improved the lives of transplant patients in 2014.

WHEN: Sunday, May 31, 2015 – 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. (Family arrivals/photos begin at 10:30 a.m.)

WHERE: CORE’s Pittsburgh headquarters (204 Sigma Drive, RIDC Park, Pittsburgh, PA 15238)

DETAILS: In 2014, hundreds of people in western Pennsylvania and West Virginia made a pledge for life by becoming organ, tissue and cornea donors.  CORE will honor the life-saving gift that these donors gave at A Special Place, an annual memorial service for the families and loved ones of those donors.  The ceremony traditionally draws more than 1,000 people and will include remarks from donor families, transplant recipients, and those touched by organ donation.  The outdoor ceremony will take place near CORE’s Special Place wall, a granite wall surrounding a park-like setting at the organization’s headquarters to commemorate donors.  The wall features a leaf for each donor in CORE’s service areas that has provided the gift of life to someone else.

PHOTOS & INTERVIEWS: Susan Stuart, president and CEO of CORE; organ donor families; transplant recipients. Also featuring a dove release; a balloon release; a ribbon cutting as part of the rededication of A Special Place; musical solos; and new wind gael sculpture in CORE’s gazebo.

EDITORS/REPORTERS:  To RSVP your attendance, please contact Elizabeth Bacheson at
412-642-7700 or elizabeth.bacheson@elias-savion.com.

About CORE
The Center for Organ Recovery & Education (CORE) is one of 58 federally designated not-for-profit organ procurement organizations (OPOs) in the United States.  CORE works closely with donor families and designated health care professionals to coordinate the surgical recovery of organs, tissues and corneas for transplantation.  CORE also facilitates the computerized matching of donated organs and placement of corneas.  With headquarters in Pittsburgh and an office in Charleston, West Virginia, CORE oversees a region that encompasses 155 hospitals and almost six million people throughout western Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Chemung County, NY.  For more information, visit core.org or call 1-800-DONORS-7.