Testimonials

ENCOURAGEMENT FROM TOMMY G. THOMPSON...
April 2, 2002

The Secretary of Health and Human Services
Washington, D.C. 20201

Dear Friends,

I am so very pleased to write in support of the Anthony Picarello Foundation’s 10K Fun Walk. The Foundation has done excellent work in promoting the cause of organ donation----a cause I believe in deeply.

Right now, nearly 80,000 Americans are waiting for organ transplants. In October of last year, the number of people awaiting a kidney transplant topped 50,000 for the very first time. Each day about 60 people receive a transplant, year another 16 people on the waiting list die every day because not enough organs are available.

Each of us can help change these sad statistics. We can sign donor cards. We can mark our willingness to donate on our driver’s license. Most importantly, we must tell our loved ones that we want to be donors.

We at the Department of Health and Human Services have been working to promote this cause. On April 17th 2001, I launched the Gift of Life Donation Initiative to reduce the country’s critical shortage of donors. We announced a “Workplace Partnership for Life,” bringing together employers, unions and other groups in a nationwide network to promote organ, tissue, marrow and blood donation. We created a model donor card, began work on an organ-donation curriculum, and sought to honor donors with appropriate recognition.

But these efforts alone will not suffice. It will take the work of organizations like the Anthony Picarello Foundation to make increased organ donation a reality, and bring life and hope to those who need transplants, The Foundation has already raised impressive sums to help those waiting for organs. And it has assisted some truly worthy beneficiaries-among them the New England Organ Bank and the American Liver Foundation. All Americans can be rightly proud of this record of selfless excellence, and I am proud to give the Foundation my wholehearted support.

On behalf of the President of the United States, please accept my sincere thanks for your great work on behalf of your fellow Americans.

Sincerely,
Tommy G. Thompson - Secretary of Human Health Services.
ENCOURAGEMENT FROM DR. CHUNG...
August 22, 2001

Massachusetts General Hospital
Harvard Medical School
Medical Director, Liver Transplant Program
Assistant Professor of Medicine

Dear Ruth, Skip, and Anthony,

I am delighted to write in support of the wonderful deeds that the Anthony Picarello Foundation has already accomplished in its very brief existence. As you know, Anthony was a patient we cared for in a moment of dire need. Two years ago, he presented with a diagnosis of fulminant hepatic failure, which left him, literally, at the precipice of death. Fortunately we were able to get him an emergency liver transplantation, which has restored to him a full and active life. In his effort to give back, Anthony and his parents, Ruth and Skip, have created a gift that will give back in perpetuity.

The Anthony R. Picarello Foundation has already raised an enormous amount on behalf of dedicated and worthy beneficiaries, including The New England Organ Bank and The American Liver Foundation. Perhaps more importantly however, the Foundation has raised a far more rare commodity, namely, awareness of organ donation. Their tireless devotion to this singular cause has been an extraordinary example of what human energy, when actively channeled, is capable of accomplishing. We at the Massachusetts General Hospital Transplant Unit have been enormously supportive of the activities of the Picarellos and their Foundation, and fully believe that additional support through corporate sponsorship would be a fitting and worthy investment given the enormous return it has already brought.

Thank you for allowing me to have participated in and to continue to be a cheerleader for the Foundation’s good works.

Sincerely,
Raymond T. Chung, MD
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