LifeCenter Organ Donor Network honors Park Hills’ Anne Wolking with Champion for Life Award

LifeCenter Organ Donor Network’s (LifeCenter) 21st annual Community Breakfast was a moving, inspiring occasion to reflect upon how much community matters to our well-being.

Among the award winners was Anne Wolking of Park Hills who received the Champion for Life award. She is a living kidney donor.

As LifeCenter’s most mission-centric event, it was an opportunity to honor, celebrate, and remember individuals impacted by donation and transplantation. More than 500 members of the Greater Cincinnati community gathered at the Cintas Center for the first in-person Community Breakfast since 2019.

Andi Johnson and Barry Massa of LifeCenter with Anne Wolking of Park Hills and her sister Kathy Daley of Independence.

That idiom about “not a dry eye in the house” manifested when keynote speaker, Aimee Cordrey, mother of Nick Cordrey, an organ, eye and tissue donor, discussed his life and legacy. Nick’s legacy includes a bucket list, with items such as learning how SunnyD is made, and visiting all 50 states. Whether it was the music by Viva Voices Choral Ensemble, the additional speakers, such as Renee Mahaffey Harris, President, and CEO of the Center for Closing the Health Gap, or the unveiling of the 2023 Celebrate Life Calendar, the Community Breakfast was a reminder of what we missed and what we could look forward to upon a new year.

Getting together as a community also has impact: After the event, a 66-year-old African American pastor registered as an organ, eye and tissue donor for the first time; and the CEO of Community Tissue Services, one of LifeCenter’s event sponsors, helped facilitate one of Nick Cordrey’s bucket list items for him to check off posthumously. He wanted to attend a World Cup game, so his picture traveled to Qatar for the World Cup this year!

In addition to moving, inspiring speeches, LifeCenter recognized four individuals with its signature awards:

• Anne Wolking, Living Kidney Donor, won the Champion for Life Award.

Wolking is a living kidney donor from Park Hills. Her sister, Kathy Daley of Independence nominated her for the award. Her nomination was read at the event:

“My sister Anne has made a significant contribution to furthering LifeCenter’s mission by being a living kidney donor on September 9, 2019. She came forward for an acquaintance/former co-worker at a time in her life that was less than convenient. Because she felt what she calls a “zap,” Anne, with the support of her husband and children, gave Mike and his family the gift of time.

“By including their children in the process, there are now three extra young people in this community who have witnessed the good that comes from organ donation. It is a topic that is comfortable for them and a story they share.

Aimee Cordrey, keynote speaker

“Since donation, Anne and Mike moved from acquaintances to “family” and together have served as champions for organ donation. Anne has mentored other potential living donors serving as supporter and guide while allowing them to make their own decision about donation. She is a true example of love in action.”

• Jermaine Hill, Assistant Fire Chief of the Forest Park Fire Department, won the Theodore E. Smith Award.

• JoAnna Tracy, Donor Mother, won the Legacy Award.

• Robert Winter, Tissue Services Director at LifeCenter, won the Samantha Jameson Vision Award.

Sponsor was Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. The Charles H. Dater Foundation provided grant support of the LifeCenter Celebrate Life Calendar.

LifeCenter is a Donate Life Organizations serving people throughout Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. Register your decision to be an organ, eye, and tissue donor at lifepassion.org.