PITTSBURGH, March 17, 2017 – The Center for Organ Recovery & Education (CORE) and the Pennsylvania Association of Community Health Centers (PACHC) are collaborating to raise awareness about the life-affirming power of organ, tissue and cornea donation.

The Caring, Hope, Commitment program launches today and will highlight donor stories, such as Mikaela Alt, who at 18 became a living donor and gave a kidney to a friend who desperately needed a transplant. It will also honor donor families whose loved ones gave the gift of life, such as John Standard’s wife, Denise, who was generous in every way and continued this legacy in death by donating a kidney to her brother and a liver to a U.S. veteran.

“Through our collaboration with Pennsylvania Association of Community Health Centers, we will increase organ donation awareness with the goal of saving the lives of the many awaiting transplant,” said Susan Stuart, president and CEO, CORE.

In 2016, the Caring, Hope, Commitment program received a Donate Life America Pinnacle Award for its contribution to advancing a culture where donation is embraced as a fundamental human responsibility.

“With a healthcare provider community that serves more than 800,000 people across 300 sites in under-served rural and urban areas throughout the state, we are committed to building on the success of this vital initiative,” said Cheri Rinehart, president and CEOs, PACHC.

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 healthcare 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, New York. For more information, visit core.org or call 1-800-DONORS-7.