Many people wonder if their family or estate are ever charged for organ donation. The truth is that donation comes at no cost to loved ones, and all expenses associated with the recovery are fully covered. Families and estates never take on any costs when a loved one becomes a donor.
Your local, federally designated organ procurement organization assumes all costs associated with recovering and processing organs and tissues for transplants once death has been declared and authorization is confirmed through either the donor registry, or from the family in lieu of registration. These costs are never passed on to the donor family.
After the transplant occurs, the OPO or hospital gets reimbursed by the transplant centers, which then bill insurance private and public insurance plans. This is all handled between medical organizations and insurance. The donor family is never involved financially in this process. Hospital expenses incurred before the donation of organs or tissue in attempt to save the donor’s life and funeral expenses remain the responsibility of the donor’s family.
Get the facts on other common organ donation and transplantation myths by visiting Donation Fact vs. Fiction. For answers to other questions about organ donation and transplantation, visit our Donation FAQ page. To register to become an organ, eye and tissue donor you can say “yes” at the driver license office, or anytime at Donate Life Colorado or Donate Life Wyoming.
Donor Alliance is honored to support this year’s 5th Annual Palmer Lake Outdoor Classic Hockey Tournament and youth camp. This year’s event is dedicated to the memory of 8-year-old McKayla Tucker, whose life and legacy continue through the lives she saved as an organ donor. Donor Alliance will be providing swag items throughout the event to help raise awareness about organ donation and to honor McKayla’s impact. Purchase event tickets: Palmer Lake Outdoor Classic | Instagram, Facebook | Linktree
Donor Alliance is honored to support this year’s Palmer Lake Outdoor Classic Hockey Tournament and youth camp. This year’s event is dedicated to the memory of 8-year-old McKayla Tucker, whose life and legacy continue through the lives she saved as an organ donor. Donor Alliance will be providing swag items throughout the event to help raise awareness about organ donation and to honor McKayla’s impact.
Hilda Chávez never imagined that her life would change from one day to the next. After experiencing several health symptoms, she was hospitalized and received news that changed everything: her kidneys were no longer functioning, and her life would depend on a transplant to heal and have a second chance at life.
In June 2017, Hilda received a kidney transplant in Colorado. Although the process was filled with fear and uncertainty, it also brought hope and the possibility of living fully again, especially being well for her family.
Throughout her journey as a patient, Hilda became aware of the significant lack of information within the Latino community about kidney disease, dialysis, and transplants. This realization led her to create Guerreras Latinas, an organization she now directs, with the mission of educating and supporting people on dialysis, those waiting for a transplant, and those who have already received one.
Today, Hilda feels deeply grateful. She knows that organ donation transforms lives and communities, and she hopes her donor’s family knows that their gift of life not only saved hers, but also the lives of many others she now supports. Her story shows that love and generosity can change the lives of others, even people we have never met.
Denver, CO — Dec. 31, 2025 — Donor Alliance, the federally designated organ procurement organization serving Colorado and Wyoming, today announced that Bradley T. Kornfeld will retire from his service on the organization’s Governing Board of Directors effective Dec. 31 2025. Kornfeld has served the organization since 2004 and is a dedicated advocate for the lifesaving mission of organ, eye and tissue donation. He will leave behind a legacy of exceptional leadership, including multiple terms as Board Chair. In recognition of his extraordinary contributions, Kornfeld has been named Board Member Emeritus, ensuring his continued connection to the organization and its mission.
Kornfeld’s journey with organ transplantation began through deeply personal experiences, which transformed his outlook and inspired his commitment to advocacy. In 1993, his father became one of the world’s first successful double-lung transplant recipients, and in 2004, Kornfeld made the life-changing decision to donate his own kidney to his father. Leveraging his unique dual perspective as both a living donor and the son of a recipient, he has dedicated much of his life to educating the public on the profoundly positive impact of donation and transplantation.
During his tenure on Donor Alliance’s Governing Board, Kornfeld served on multiple committees and played an integral role in selecting the organization’s current executive leadership team. His contributions to the donation and transplantation community extend beyond the boardroom. Kornfeld was actively involved in the passage of the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act in Colorado, helping to strengthen the state’s legal framework for organ donation. At the national level, he served on the Board of Directors of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN), bringing an invaluable firsthand perspective to national policy discussions as one of the few living donors on the board.
“Brad has been a cornerstone of our organization for over two decades and has played an integral part in shaping the leadership and future of both Donor Alliance and the entire donation and transplantation community,” said Jennifer Prinz, president and CEO of Donor Alliance. “His journey as a living donor and his tireless advocacy truly embody the spirit of compassion and resilience. We are deeply grateful for his dedication to saving and healing lives in our community and across the country.”
This holiday season, Donor Alliance connected with communities throughout Colorado and Wyoming to share the life-saving message of organ, eye, and tissue donation. From twinkling tree lightings to festive parades, we reminded the community that the greatest gift we can give is the gift of life.
A season of connection and community
This December, our team and dedicated advocates participated in wonderful community events throughout Colorado and Wyoming, including the Cheyenne Christmas Parade, the Aurora Tree Lighting, a virtual presentation with Amigos de Mexico, and the spectacular 9News Parade of Lights in Denver. Each event gave us the opportunity to connect with families, share stories of hope, and spread awareness about the life-saving power of organ donation. Our incredible volunteer advocates, the heart and soul of our mission, braved the cold weather, engaged with parade-goers, and shared their personal stories with compassion and courage. Their commitment is what makes our message reach further and save more lives.
Meet Elita and Bryan Hester
Experiencing the gift of life firsthand, the entire family became registered donors. Bryan, Elita’s husband, is a cornea recipient who now sees the world clearly thanks to an extraordinary gift. In what they call the “miracle of Hester Street,” Bryan discovered that he had officiated the funeral of the very friend whose cornea he received, a connection he describes as his donor “getting to see his own funeral through the eyes he gave.” Most recently, the family was touched again by donation when Elita’s mother became an organ donor after her passing, giving hope and life to others. Elita shared that her mother’s gift brought comfort and healing during her grief journey. They’re using their story to help raise awareness and hopefully spread more hope throughout Colorado. Watch Elita and Bryan’s interview with Aurora TV.
Looking forward with gratitude
As we reflect on this holiday season, we’re reminded that every event we attend, every story we share, and every person we reach brings us one step closer to less people waiting for a life-saving and healing donation. To our advocates – your dedication makes miracles possible every single day.
From all of us at Donor Alliance, thank you for being part of our community and helping us share the greatest gift we can give: the gift of life. Say yes to giving the gift of life at Donate Life Colorado or Donate Life Wyoming.
Donation Essentials Blog
How Deceased Donors Are Helping to Redefine Treatment for Blood Cancers
Bone marrow transplants, also known as stem cell transplants, are a critical treatment for more than 75 diseases, including blood cancers and other diseases that affect the body’s ability to produce healthy blood cells. Replacing damaged marrow with healthy stem cells restores the body’s ability to generate red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets.
The Challenge of Finding a Match
Matching donors to recipients is crucial. Historically, receiving a bone marrow transplant relied solely on living donors who were registered and submitted a cheek swab kit to a database.
Matching is based on human leukocyte antigen (HLA) markers. The closer the match, the lower the risk of complications. Registries like NMDP (formerly Be the Match) help connect patients with suitable donors, but finding a perfect match is often difficult.
Innovative Cell Recovery Through Organ Donation
A ground-breaking partnership between Donor Alliance and Ossium Health is expanding the potential for bone marrow donation. The collaboration allows bone marrow recovery from deceased organ and tissue donors.
While traditional searches for a living donor can take 3-5 months (a wait many patients cannot afford), the partnership enables bone marrow transplants to be performed much quicker, often within just 72 hours.
This speed is achieved by recovering vertebral bodies (spine bones) from deceased organ and tissue donors. Ossium Health processes these donations to recover bone marrow from the interior of the bone, removing fat and tissue to isolate the vital cells.
Why it matters: This approach allows stem cells to be recovered from deceased donors and stored for future use. Historically, patients needed a perfect 8/8 HLA match to avoid rejection. However, thanks to advanced processing that depletes the specific cells that cause rejection and new post-transplant protocols, doctors can now perform successful transplants even with partial matches. This expands the pool of potential recipients, covering an estimated 95% of blood cancer patients at full scale.
Real-World Impact: A Historic Milestone at Ohio State
The power of this innovation was recently proven at Ohio State University (OSU) in what is likely the fastest bone marrow transplant ever performed.
In July, a leukemia patient at OSU was prepped for a transplant when their scheduled living donor had a sudden adverse reaction to medication and could not donate. With the patient in a critical state and a traditional search taking too long, the medical team contacted Ossium Health.
Because of a heroic donor in our region, Ossium Health located a match immediately. They physically drove the cells to the transplant center, and the transplant occurred within just two days of the request.
The results were remarkable. The patient began producing new blood cells in just 17 days and has remained cancer-free with no rejection episodes. The groundbreaking case study was presented at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) conference, demonstrating to the world that deceased donor bone marrow is a viable, life-saving reality.
Donor Alliance’s Role
As part of our mission to save lives through organ and tissue donation, Donor Alliance has expanded our impact by collaborating with innovative partners like Ossium Health. Through this partnership, we:
· Identify potential bone marrow recovery opportunities from deceased donors.
· Coordinate matching and delivery of preserved stem cells with transplant centers.
· Ensure ethical, respectful handling of every donation.
· Help transform a single donor’s gift into multiple life-saving outcomes.
Ethical Oversight
Every donation, whether it comes from a living volunteer or a deceased donor, is handled with deep care and responsibility. To ensure the highest quality of cells, strict criteria are followed, including:
· Fully informed consent from donors and their families.
· Recovery within strict time limits (usually under 8 hours) to ensure cell viability.
· Oversight by federal health agencies, including the FDA and HRSA.
At Donor Alliance, we treat each donation as an act of generosity. Every donation is handled with deep care, ensuring that a single donor’s gift is maximized to help patients who might otherwise have no hope.
Learn More or Get Involved
If you’re inspired to take action, here’s how to start:
· Register as an organ and tissue donor in Colorado
·Register in Wyoming
·Learn more about Ossium Health’s innovations
When Krystal and Tom lost their 5-year-old daughter, Aurora, in 2024, their world changed forever. Krystal describes Aurora as ‘joy-personified’. She was always singing, dancing, and finding a way to make the people around her feel loved. Even in her final moments, Aurora’s love and generosity lived on, carrying forward through organ donation.
“When she left, it felt like the only right decision was to donate,” Krystal shared. “In fact, one of her favorite movies, ‘Frozen 2’, has a song called ‘The Next Right Thing,’ and it’s something that helped me to make that decision along with her father.”
In the hardest moment of their lives, they thought about Aurora and the way she always reached out to others. Choosing to help others felt like a meaningful way to honor her.
Tom recalls sharing one of life’s important lessons with Aurora, saying, “Look out for the helpers in life. You will always find people who are helping,” inspired by Mr. Rogers.
“She saved the life of a nurse,” shared Krystal. “It’s pretty powerful that my little girl got to help a helper.”
Aurora’s generosity brought hope and healing to many families, and her legacy lives on in the lives she saved. She was honored by her family organizing the 2nd largest team at this year’s Wyoming Donor Dash 5K in Casper, walking alongside others whose lives have been touched by organ, eye, and tissue donation. Aurora’s legacy continues to shine in every life she touched.
