Victoria Roberts

A COTA staff member spoke with Victoria's dad in April. Victoria’s numbers keep getting better and better and they are still hopeful that someday they’ll be able to give this money (nearly $360,000 raised) to another child. They welcomed their third child to the family in May.

Elijah Vang

Nothing new since April (which, in this case, is always a good thing). Elijah’s mom said he was to return to school this fall as a first grader and is a “normal kid” - just what we hope happens with all our children. His campaign volunteers raised more than $16,000 for his care.

Ellise Jones

A COTA staff member spoke with Ellise’s mom back in June after Ellise was successfully transplanted. COTA worked on a couple of minor issues for her that kept her at the hospital in Cincinnati for a extended period (more than a month). For now, all seems quiet (a very good thing!) at the Jones home, and Ellise should be starting back to school in the fourth grade now. Ellise’s volunteers raised nearly $29,000.

Nickolas Sheeder

Nickolas’s family moved from Texas to Colorado due to his dad’s work situation earlier this year. They concluded fundraising (less than $7,500) and are very pleased with their success – thanks in large part to the PEACE Fund. Incidentally, their lead volunteer told me they were set to do a number of new fundraisers, but mom and dad felt they were covered and asked everyone to stop.

Sophia Boyer

Sophia was successfully transplanted on Christmas Eve 2006 and is doing well, according to her mom. A COTA staff member spoke with her grandmother (and campaign coordinator) in the spring; she said Sophia was doing very well with an occasional bump in the road, but nothing “earth shattering.” Her fundraising has concluded and they raised a little over $31,000, including The PEACE Fund's gift and COTA's challenge grant.

Cadence

Rigden Sadly, Cadence passed away the latter part of March. COTA has tried to remain in contact with her mother, who is a very young woman and help her with funeral costs and getting her back on her feet again. At the time of Cadence's passing, volunteers were still raising funds and were able to help with nearly $15,000 for the family.

Ellise welcomes a bear at Christmas

"Thank you so much for the gift. She was so excited when she received it. Of course I made her wait until Christmas to open it, which was probably a week or more. She could hardly stand the wait. She loves stuffed animals and she has a huge window seat full of them so the new bear fit right in.

Thanks again and I hope you had a wonderful holiday!"

Sophia and her new friend

Thanks to the generosity of one of The PEACE Fund's anonymous supporters, some of the COTA children who have received support from The PEACE Fund also received an early Christmas gift - a bear made especially for them from the Vermont Teddy Bear Company.

Elijah and his bear

We were touched to receive a letter from Elijah's family, which we would like to share with you.

"Hi, I am the parent of Elijah Vang, one of COTA'S kids. We recently received a gift from you for Elijah. I would like to say Thank You for your generosity and wonderful gift you sent for Elijah. He took the bear with him to school to show his teacher. He was very excited about receiving the gift. Thank you for making Elijah's Christmas bright this year and for caring about COTA children. Attached is a photo of Elijah holding the teddy bear. Elijah is 2 years post transplant and is doing well so far. I thank God for answering all my prayers. Thanks again for the beautiful gift."