2014 has truly been an amazing year for Purposeful Gift. We have been blessed to see so many things happen this past year. Here is a recap of the major accomplishments for us and Purposeful Gift.

In March we had the amazing opportunity to film Amalya’s story which was turned into a documentary for IIAM / MTF – if you missed it you can watch it here. We were also able to speak for the Indiana Organ Procurement Organization and for the University of Dayton.

In April we were able to present during a webinar for the International Society for Organ Preservation. This was our first web-based presentation.

In June we presented for IIAM in Las Vegas, NV at their bi-annual recovery workshop.

In August we presented for MTF in New Orleans, LA for their leadership summit.  Amalya’s documentary was featured during the meeting, which was awesome to watch in a room full of donation professionals. We also met Scotty, the researcher who used Amalya’s whole body (a highlight for 2014).

In September I (Bethany) spoke for the American Association of Tissue Banks at their Annual Meeting in San Diego, CA. I spoke to about 800 professionals from various positions in the donation world.

In October I traveled to Boston and presented for the New England Organ Bank as well as three hospitals (Brigham and Women’s, Tuffs, and Boston Children’s).

In November I went back to Las Vegas to present once again for IIAM at their recovery workshop.

And finally, in December we applied for our 501(c)(3) nonprofit status and were granted approval by the IRS. We are thrilled to end the year as a fully functional nonprofit organization!!!!

This year we also created several documents to assist both parents and organ procurement organizations through the donation process and make communication a little easier. You can find the documents here. We will also be revealing our newest document later this week!

During 2014 we added six new stories of neonatal donation to our website. We LOVE adding stories and feel that the stories are one of the most important part of our website. Not only does this give parents on opportunity to brag on their child, but it also allows others to see the importance of neonatal organ donation. You can read these stories here.

We also created a special page just for donation professionals and added a vast amount of information to that portion of the website.

We are truly thrilled to look back at our 2014 accomplishments and we are eager to see what we will accomplish in 2015. If you have ideas on how we can improve, feel free to contact us.

If you would like to make an end of the year tax-deductible contribution to help us as we grow during 2015 you can use our new pay-pal feature found here.

We want to close by thanking everyone for the love and support during 2014. It has been an honor and privilege to serve both families and the donation community.

With gratitude –

Eric and Bethany (in loving memory of Amalya Nathaniel)