–Volunteers Competed on “Team Pittsburgh” Biannual Games in Houston, Texas–

Pittsburgh, Sept. 18, 2014 – Team Pittsburgh took home the gold at the Transplant Games of America in Houston, and the Center for Organ Recovery & Education (CORE) is pleased to recognize its volunteers who participated in July.  The Transplant Games of America is a multi-sport festival event for individuals who have undergone life-saving transplant surgeries.  Thirty four members of Team Pittsburgh, including 19 CORE volunteers, participated in events including 5K race/walk, ballroom dancing, bowling, swimming, table tennis, golf, track & field and more.  Several were also awarded a medal in their respective events:

Erie:   

• Brittany Grimm: Swimming, gold (2), silver (4)

New Castle:

• Steve Wicks: Tennis doubles, silver (1)

Pittsburgh:

• Patty Dippold:  Singles and doubles bowling
• Toni Linder: Bowling doubles, gold (1)
• Tom Meshanko: Table tennis, gold (1); bowling doubles, gold (1); 5K Walk, participant medal (1); and participated in bowling singles
• John Staniszewski:  Bowling doubles, silver (1)
• Christine Steele:  Table tennis, bronze (1); bowling singles, silver (1); bowling doubles, silver (1)
• Georgene Thomas: Singles and doubles bowling
• Rich Wegrzyn:  Bowling doubles, gold (1)
• Lora Wilson: 5-K walk/run, bronze (1); bowling doubles, gold (1)

Glenshaw:

• Jane Barrett: Table tennis and trivia
• Melissa Bell: Bowling singles, bronze (1); bowling doubles, silver (1)

Lower Burrell

• John Polczynski:  Singles and doubles bowling

Monroeville:

• Jack Silverstein: Singles and doubles bowling

McMurray:

• Jim Uhrig: Golf

Natrona Heights:

• Rudy Molnar: Ballroom dancing, gold (2); bowling doubles, silver (1)

New Kensington:

• Wayne Meyers:  Ballroom dancing, gold (2); bowling singles, silver (1); bowling doubles, silver (1)

North Huntingdon:

• Stephanie Berardi: Swimming, gold (3), silver (2); bowling, bronze (1)

Pleasant Hills

• Rich Morgan: Golf

“The Transplant Games of America is a wonderful event that takes place every two years, and CORE was pleased to support Team Pittsburgh in Houston,” said Susan Stuart, president and CEO of CORE.  “The Games allow our transplant recipients to compete in a variety of sporting events, but it is more than just a sporting event.  The games highlight the critical importance of organ, tissue and cornea donation, while celebrating the lives of organ donors and transplant recipients.”

The Transplant Games of America are open to living donors, donor families, organ transplant recipients, bone marrow recipients, and corneal and tissue transplant recipients. For more information about the games, visit www.transplantgamesofamerica.org. The next Transplant Games competition is set to take place in Cleveland in 2016.

About CORE

The Center for Organ Recovery & Education (CORE) is one of 58 federally designated not-for-profit organ procurement organizations (OPOs) in the United States.  CORE works closely with donor families and designated health care professionals to coordinate the surgical recovery of organs, tissues and corneas for transplantation.  CORE also facilitates the computerized matching of donated organs and placement of corneas.  With headquarters in Pittsburgh and an office in Charleston, West Virginia, CORE oversees a region that encompasses 155 hospitals and almost six million people throughout western Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Chemung County, NY.  For more information, visit www.core.org or call 1-800-DONORS-7.