Caring Student's Efforts Help Transplant Patients

By Yvonne Carey

Working industriously to win a contest just so you can give away the prize doesn't sound like a rational thing to do, but for Jaclyn Einstein, 16, the real reward is a smile and a hug.

Her group, Sprinkle of Sunshine, a community service club at University School of Nova Southeastern University in Davie, raised more than $6,000 during the Transplant Foundation 5K Miracle Walk last month at C.B. Smith Park in Pembroke Pines.

Jaclyn was to have received an award for raising the most money. But on Tuesday at Dave and Buster's in Hollywood, Jaclyn gave Angela Aviles, 19 -- who received a heart transplant in December -- a certificate good for a seven-day cruise.

''There are things out there we can't cure,'' said Jaclyn, whose group aids transplant recipients and educates the public about transplants. ``But this is something we can cure through organ donation. People don't have to die just because they need an organ transplant. We're wasting precious organs.''

The Miracle Walk had 150 participants and raised $34,000 for the Transplant Foundation, a nonprofit organization that provides services for transplant recipients, community education and transplant research funding.

The connection began in December, when Sprinkle of Sunshine donated food, toys and toiletries to the needy family of an organ-transplant patient through the foundation's Adopt-a-Family Holiday Angels program.

When she heard the foundation would soon have its first walkathon, Jaclyn said she wrote up a pledge plea and sent it to friends and family members.

Jaclyn regularly delivers holiday presents and decorations to transplant patients at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami. For Easter, she took baskets and treats to young transplant recipients.

''It felt so good to know that they looked forward to us coming and that they know we will come,'' she said.

Dr. Paolo Rusconi, a pediatric cardiologist at Jackson Memorial Hospital, said he saw firsthand how effective Jaclyn's group was.

''Some children we see are severely disadvantaged and then they're in this very emotional situation,'' he said. ``We at the hospital can provide the best medical care, but we need something more.

''They hug the children, laugh with them,'' Rusconi said. ``They help the children recuperate.''

The 20-member group works the malls frequently to educate kids about organ donations before they get their driver's licenses, so they can get a donor card.

''I have people coming up to me saying they never knew where to go to become a donor,'' she said. ``Some say they didn't know it affected so many people.''

Sprinkle of Sunshine supports other causes as well.

It is planning a T-shirt collection drive to benefit the Community Partnership for Homeless, a shelter in downtown Miami that cares for displaced families.

For information about the Transpant Foundation, call 800-533-3172 or visit The Transplant Foundation.

Copyright © 2004 The Miami Herald.

This article posted April 24, 2004.