Radnor Nonprofit Celebrates 35 Years with Anniversary Gala

On October 26, the nonprofit Help Hope Live, which provides vulnerable patients with access to health care, will host its Live It Up! gala from 6-10 p.m. at The Baldwin School in Bryn Mawr to celebrate 35
years of helping U.S. families afford the care they need to heal, live,
and thrive.

Founded in 1983 by a Villanova transplant surgeon and his wife, a
nurse, the nonprofit raised $300,000 in its first year to assist people
in need of lifesaving heart transplants, then considered experimental.
Today, Help Hope Live has raised more than $131 million to fund
uninsured health care and serves as a safety net for thousands of
patients who need transplants or are living with catastrophic injuries
or illnesses.

“While we helped pioneer medical fundraising in 1983, today our great
work is overshadowed by for-profit crowdfunding sites, like GoFundMe,
which can actually put families in jeopardy of losing important
asset-based coverage they rely on,” said Help Hope Live Executive
Director Kelly L. Green. “We want to let people know we are here as a
medical fundraising resource that offers unique nonprofit benefits.”

Live It Up! will include dinner by Best of the Main
Line’s John Serock, an open bar, auction, and the Help Hope Live Awards,
which honor community heroes who prove why the nonprofit’s national
mission matters.

• Help Award for excellence in social work – Debbie Gordon, transplant social worker for the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
• Hope Award for organ donor awareness – Jerry Cahill, Cystic Fibrosis advocate and double lung transplant recipient
• Live Award for continuing a legacy of hope – Will Reeve, son of the late Christopher and Dana Reeve and ambassador for the Reeve Foundation
• The Rainey Award will also be presented for the first time in honor of the late Nancy and Arthur H Rainey, longtime volunteers and supporters of Help Hope Live. The award will be given to volunteers of the nationally-renowned Katie Samson Lacrosse Festival, now entering its 19th year at Radnor High School, which benefits individuals living with spinal cord injuries.

In keeping with Help Hope Live’s 35th anniversary campaign Bubble Break, which seeks to raise awareness that life is fragile but hope and community support can make all the difference, the theme of Live It Up! is “Bubbles and Baubles.” Tickets start at $135 and are available for purchase at www.helphopelive.org.