The Crowd: Plans underway for gala launch of living organ donor fund

Heidi Miller reported to Hoag Hospital in the summer of 1991, checked in and waited to be called. On an upper floor intensive care unit Terry Reisdorf was also waiting. She needed a bone marrow transplant to save her life. Miller had come to give her that hope of survival.

The invasive and painful operation succeeded. Reisdorf would live another 23 years. Miller recovered, returned to her life in Laguna Beach and went back to work as fast as she could mobilize.

Returning to her life as a single businesswoman who had achieved considerable notoriety earlier in her career as a pioneer in the frozen yogurt phenom, Miller now ran a string of ladies fashion boutiques known as Tight Assets.

What matters to her story is that Miller, following the bone marrow transplant, began reaching out, counseling, coordinating, advising others on her gift, the procedure and the benefit of donating life. Over the next two decades, countless patients and donors were taken under her wing. Lives were saved, destiny altered.

In May of 2017 in Newport Beach, a gala in the ballroom of the Balboa Bay Resort welcomed a crowd of some 500, all of whom came via word of mouth, email or text. No formal invitations were issued. Cocktails, dinner, dessert and entertainment provided, all hosted by Carole Pickup, matriarch of the Pickup-Martin family, owners of the hotel.

The event was billed as a “Night to Learn About Organ Donation.” Baseball legend Rod Carew came, recipient of a new heart. TV host Peter Marshall was front and center, sharing his personal story with a family member in need. Respected physicians in the field came including nephrologists Eric Wechsler, Kambib Vahabsedeh, and Colleen Coleman, a thyroid specialist at Hoag who had recently donated a kidney to a fellow surgeon.

Testimonials flowed. Strangers in the crowd stood and told their stories.

Given the important aspect of journalistic full disclosure, the underlying purpose of the evening was to find a kidney donor for this columnist. I had months to live, according to doctors. Readers have heard this story before. No one came forward at the event to donate a kidney.

A month later, my phone rang.

“I’d like to see if I can donate,” the voice on the line said.

“Really? Who is this really?” I replied, joking, certain it was a friend with a dose of dark humor.

The caller was Heidi Miller. She had not attended the event, but her friend Carol Lee was there and shared with her the emotion of the evening.

Cutting to the chase, after much preparation, we were a match and surgery was performed at Cedar-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Fast forward nearly five years, through two plus years of pandemic shutdown and it is time to “pay the gift of life forward.”

Not long after Miller donated her kidney, the concept for “The Living Organ Donor Fund” was born. Miller wanted to create a local Orange County nonprofit with the purpose of funding organ donors assisting with expenses not covered by insurance. Things like lost wages, travel and living costs, child support, post-surgery care, so much more. By reducing the financial burden of giving, the hope is that more amazing people will step up.

“My purpose for starting the Living Organ Donor Assistance Fund is twofold. First is to bring awareness of the need for more live kidney donors as 13 people die a day waiting for a kidney,” Miller said. “Then to help those live kidney donor heroes in every step of the donation process. From transportation, accommodations, lost wages, medical supplies and more. We hope to assist live donors as they generously give the gift of life.”

Heidi Miller joins the “Donate Life” float at the 2018 Rose Parade.

(Courtesy of Heidi Miller)

In the same fashion that Miller reached out after her bone marrow donation, she has done the same for organ patients and donors. In the year since she donated, Miller has facilitated some 20 additional matches in the O.C.

One significant example is the gift of life provided by former Chapman University president and distinguished O.C. economist and professor James Doti. He became aware of Heidi’s gift, called her and said he wanted to do the same. Doti’s kidney saved the life of a stranger through the medical team at UC Irvine Hospital. And Doti, an ardent athlete and mountain climber in his 70s, has not missed one mountain peak since.

With the generous help of the late Frank Doti, attorney and Jim’s brother, a 501-C3 classification has been established and the nonprofit is now real. Once again, with the blessing of Carole Pickup, the Balboa Bay Resort, Newport Beach, will host “Organ Donor Awareness 2: The Launch of the Living Organ Donor Fund” on the evening of Thursday, Sept. 29.

A committee was formed in February to get the plans rolling with support from Diane Mondini, Catherine Thyen, Sosy Hachigian, Pam Selber and Helen Mills.

“It’s the ground floor,” said Miller. “We have so much to do and need so much support including hopefully finding a lead donor that we name the fund after.

Kidney donors Dr. Jim Doti and Heidi Miller, founder of the Living Organ Donor Fund.

(Courtesy of Heidi Miller)

“Who’s listening?” she added with a huge grin.

Organ donation touches many lives. Indeed, someone is listening, Heidi.

“Donating a kidney was the best thing I’ve ever done in my life,” Miller said. “The gratitude is overwhelming. God gave me two kidneys…I only needed one, so I shared my spare!”

To get involved, please contact Heidi Miller at [email protected].

Support our coverage by becoming a digital subscriber.