Staff throughout the University of Pennsylvania Health System put their wallets and sneakers to work this spring at fundraising walks and runs including the March of Dimes March for Babies, the Gift of Life Donor Dash, and the Take a Breather Foundation’s Narberth CF Run.
A Celebration of Organ Donors
HUP lab manager Suanne Gardiner carries the Team Penn Medicine sign during the Donor Dash 3K walk.
On April 16, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) laboratory operations manager Suanne Gardiner proudly joined Team Penn Medicine at the 26th annual Gift of Life Donor Dash – a walk and run in celebration of organ and tissue donors – as both an employee and an organ donor. She had wanted to donate a kidney ever since her now 21-year-old son was born with a kidney disorder (he’s doing fine now), and finally had the surgery in December to donate to a stranger in need.
Gardiner said she had many reasons for joining Penn Medicine’s team: “I love my job and the health system; I believe in the work we do; our Penn Transplant Institute is something to be proud of and should be promoted; as a donor, I want to be around like-minded individuals; I want to advocate for living organ donation; I want to hear everyone’s story; and I am proud of what I did.”
A couple of weeks later, the Penn Transplant Institute (PTI) held an inpatient Donor Dash to honor both donors and recipients. The hospital dash, now in its third year, was started by inpatient transplant nurses to enable admitted patients the opportunity to participate since they couldn’t attend the actual event. Transplant care teams helped pre- and post-operative transplant donors and recipients take laps around their units, accompanied by staff from the Gift of Life Donor Program and its blue Heartman mascot.
After donating a kidney at HUP on Jan. 5, guest speaker Jennifer Wexler was happy to return and share her excitement for living organ donation. Like Gardiner, her gift was non-directed, meaning she didn’t know the recipient or donate on a particular individual’s behalf.
“I am often asked what was my motivation for donating a kidney to a stranger,” Wexler said. “To put it simply, most acts of altruism stem from love and the deep seated satisfaction that comes from knowing you have helped another human being have a better life. This was no different.”
Supporting Cystic Fibrosis
On April 22, the Expectorants – a long-running cystic fibrosis fundraising team led by HUP pulmonary unit nurse Timothy Rowan, BSN, RN-BC – exceeded its fundraising goals at the Take a Breather Foundation’s five-mile Narberth CF Run, and post-lung transplant nurse practitioner Meghan Banigan, MSN, CRNP, placed third in her age group. While The Expectorants take part in many events to support cystic fibrosis patients, this one is special: Take a Breather founder Matt McCloskey is a cystic fibrosis patient who had a bilateral lung transplant at HUP in 2015.
Marching for Babies
Penn Medicine had more than 10 teams participate in the March of Dimes’ 2023 Greater Philadelphia/South Jersey March for Babies, co-chaired this year by HUP CEO Regina Cunningham, PhD, RN, NEA-BC and Beth Johnston, special advisor to UPHS CEO Kevin Mahoney. The health system raised more than $100,000, including Penn’s corporate sponsorship. Proceeds will help fund research, programs, support and advocacy to address the nationwide maternal and infant health crisis and improve the health of mothers and babies.
“The real winners are the future babies born in Philadelphia,” said HUP team captain Jessica Lazzeri, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, clinical director for Women’s Health and Neonatal Nursing. “I’m very proud to be part of this team that really came out and delivered for our babies.”