PITTSBURGH, PA October 5, 2025 – Today, at its 32nd annual A Special Place ceremony, the Center for Organ Recovery & Education (CORE) paid tribute to 472 heroes, the organ donors from CORE’s service area of western Pennsylvania and West Virginia, who gave the gift of life to more than 970 others in 2024. The memorial ceremony also honored 905 cornea donors and 1,654 tissue donors whose gifts restored sight to 884 people and provided healing through bone, skin and heart valve transplants for nearly 125,000 others.

Held at CORE’s Pittsburgh headquarters, A Special Place brought together more than 1,000 donor families, CORE staff and board members, and members of the transplant community to celebrate and remember those who gave life to others through organ, tissue and cornea donation, as well as hope to those still waiting for a life-saving gift.

“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 holding the promise of new sunrises.”

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

Jennifer MacBride spoke about her husband, Steve MacBride, 52, of South Fayette, who passed away suddenly at Allegheny General Hospital from a brain hemorrhage in November 2024 and saved lives as an organ donor. Although she and her sons, 16-year-old Sawyer and 11-year-old Colton, who joined her onstage, miss Steve each day, Jennifer told the crowd that she finds comfort in knowing he was able to save others as his final act. “It is extremely fitting that he left this world helping others through organ donation, because that is what he always did when he was alive,” she said.

Elihu Mansell, 55, of Greentree, Pennsylvania, who is waiting for a life-saving kidney transplant, thanked donor families in the audience for giving him hope that someone, somewhere will, like they did, turn their tragedy into his miracle. “To those who have given in the midst of grief, allowing the loss of a loved one to bring life to someone like me, I can only say this: with all my sympathy for your loss, and with all the hope in my heart—thank you,” he said.

Maidsville, West Virginia, native Steven Sherer, 42, a grateful heart transplant recipient, shared his story of receiving a second chance at life in June 2024 at UPMC Presbyterian. Born with congenital heart disease, the young father endured years of arrhythmias and hospitalizations before ultimately receiving the gift of a donor heart. He said, “But today, being able to talk to all of you, donor families who no longer have your loved ones, this is a privilege. On behalf of all transplant recipients, I want to thank you and all donor families from the bottom of my new heart.”

Prior to the ceremony, donor family members pinned quilt squares in remembrance of their loved ones. The program included a dove release and a balloon release using biodegradable balloons and string. Musical elements featured vocalist Twan Moore, the Southminster Ringers, and bagpiper Charles Gledich, who performed “Amazing Grace.” Pastor Larry Jennings, director of Pastoral Services at Guthrie Robert Packer Hospital, gave the invocation.

A Special Place is one of two annual ceremonies; CORE also holds one each year in Charleston, West Virginia, so that all families CORE has the privilege to serve can join in celebrating their loved ones.

Specifically, in 2024, CORE’s western Pennsylvania service area saw 345 organ donors who, after their deaths, provided 682 organs for transplant, 1,106 tissue donors who healed up to 75 people each, and 716 cornea donors who restored sight for 703 people. Statewide, 2,286 Pennsylvanians received transplants, including 1,748 from deceased donors and 538 from living donors. In West Virginia, where CORE serves nearly the entire state, 127 deceased organ donors gave 288 organs, 535 tissue donors healed more than 40,000 people, and 178 cornea donors gave sight to 169 individuals.

Each organ, tissue and cornea donor can save up to eight lives and improve the lives of nearly 75 people. Visit core.org/register to register today.

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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