The Board of Directors of Gift of Life proudly announces the kick-off of their 2008 Capital Campaign, Expansion for Life, to raise funds for a second Gift of Life House in Rochester, Minnesota.

The mission of Gift of Life Transplant House is to provide transplant patients and caregivers with high-quality, affordable accommodations in a supportive home-like environment. In doing so, we help transplant patients achieve optimal recovery in a “home that helps and heals”.

Mayo Clinic patients listed on the solid organ and blood & marrow transplant lists are welcome at Gift of Life. At any given time, guests staying at Gift of Life are in some process of the transplant journey; away from their homes,families, and friends. Also, many guests staying at Gift of Life are undergoing stem cell or bone marrow transplants to treat their various blood cancers. Their recovery depends upon having a safe, caring, and clean environment during treatment.

Gift of Life annually provides 30,000 guest nights to transplant patients, filling the House to capacity. As a result of this high occupancy, Gift of Life is often forced to refer many guests to local hotels for accommodation. Last year, we served over 900 transplant patients. Yet, sadly, we still turned away a number of patients who wished to stay at Gift of Life.

Mayo Clinic projects the growth of the transplant programs to continue, creating a greater need for additional housing for transplant patients. Our colleagues at Mayo Clinic feel the same urgency we do, to provide housing for future patients. Recently, benefactors purchased a large portion of land at the southwest corner of Second Street and Seventh Avenue, diagonally across from Gift of Life, to make this possible.

Our new facility will accommodate 24-36 handicapped guest rooms, with kitchens, dining areas, a surrounding porch, gardens and parking. Common spaces will be large for social gatherings, while other spaces will be for reflection and solitude. Most importantly, the new house will be a home in order to continue our mission to help and heal.

In memory of our beloved Sister Margeen Hoffmann, who passed away on August 3, 2007, a peace and healing garden is being planned. Sister Margeen, Executive Director for Gift of Life for 16 years saw the House as it flourished and continually grew from eight rooms in a small house to over fifty guest rooms and two additions to the historic Judd House.

After a careful analysis, our Board estimates a need of six to eight million dollars to incorporate all they desire for the Home. If all goes according to schedule, we will break ground in 2008 and open the doors to the new House in 2009 to coincide with the 25th Anniversary of Gift of Life Transplant House.

Thankfully, we have the land to build upon, blueprints to review, and the planning in progress. Now, it is imperative that we gain the financial support of our entire Gift of Life Family and Benefactors in order for us to successfully embark upon, Expansion for Life. Please fill out the donation form, specify your donation is for the Capital Campaign, and mail in with your contribution to Gift of Life Transplant House. Thank you for your generosity and continued support in this new chapter in Gift of Life history.