Gas card program helps families

When Patrick and Madelyn Gahan’s daughter, Mya, receiveda heart transplant at age 3, the parents wanted to do more towards research for children’s heart transplants.

They launched Enduring Hearts, a nonprofit organization that raises funds towards innovative research for children’ s heart transplants. While the Marietta- based non profit as raised funds towards research, it wanted to do more for the families directly.

This summer, Enduring Hearts launched the Road to Recovery Gas Card program with pilot programs at Children’ s Healthcare of Atlanta and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.

“This program will help mitigate gas costs for pediatric transplant families who endure frequent travel back and forth to the hospital while their child is waiting for a new heart and for post-transplant care,” said Carolyn Salvador, executive director of Enduring Hearts.

The average heart transplant costs more than $800,000, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing. More than 50 per- cent of families are covered by Medicaid and can not bear the additional costs for travel, housing, medicine sand additional therapies.

The organization plans to expand this program to 20 pediatric heart transplant centers across the U.S.

Although this program was not around when Kelley Gray’s son was receiving his transplant, she can resonate how this program will ease burdenfor families.

“Our son was in the hospital for 70 days, so we had multiple trips a day back and forth between the hospital, work and home to care for our other baby,” shared Gray, wholives in Grant Park. “Besides the medical costs, all those additional expenses add up.”

Donations to the gas card program will help families across Atlanta and the country. The community can also support the nonprofifit through its other events and fundraisers throughout the year. The nonprofifit will host runners and volunteers for the Have a Nice Day 5K in Canton on Saturday. It is also looking for volunteers for the Holiday Lights at Cherokee Veteran’s Park taking place later this fall, where Enduring Hearts will be the benefificiary.

Since its launch in 2013, Enduring Hearts has funded research in more than 25 institutions in North America, including Georgia Tech, Harvard University, Stanford University, University of Chicago and University of Calgary.

Information: Gas cardprogram: https://www.enduringhearts.org/research-for-families/gas-card-program/

To volunteer: https://www. enduringhearts.org/support-our-mission/#getInvolved

CONTRIBUTED BY ENDURING HEARTS Volunteers fromEnduring Hearts spent timeat Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta for a songbook project for the book, The Moose& The Golden Spike. The organization raises funds for research towards pediatric heart transplants. It launched a gas card programtomitigate expenses endured by families.