Trails4Transplants End of the Trail Celebration

Additional Information

The Trails4Transplants group will be completing their 2,000 mile horse ride on June 2nd, and will host an End of the Trail Celebration event in the 4-H building at the Olmsted County Fairgrounds.  This group of dedicated individuals would like to take this opportunity to once again stress the need for tissue, organ, and eye donors, as they share their stories of their 2,000 mile horseback trek.

What T4T has achieved so far…  1,703 miles total–297 miles yet to go!  78 days of riding  305 total riders from 12 different states- ND, SD, MN, KS, ID, WA, CO, FL, SC, LA, MT, IA  50 volunteers from 8 states- ND, MN, SD, MT, FL, CO, KS, LA  36,200 horseback miles logged over 4 states  75 cities and towns  500+ high school kids listened the message of donation  Media coverage 26 newspaper articles (16 front page), 4 radio station, 4 5 news reports and 2.6K Facebook followers  Co-hosted the first ever Donate Life Rodeo with Wojo Rodeo Company in Greenbush, MN   $200,000 raised to spread awareness for organ, eye and tissue donation, honor donors, and support organ recipients.  The proceeds have also benefited:  Med City Foundation in Rochester, MN and Donor Tribute Walls at Tri-County Health and CHI Oakes Community Hospital, Donate Life Tree during the ND Hall of Trees at the ND Capital.

End of the Trail Celebration:  June 2nd in the 4-H Building at the Olmsted County Fairgrounds.  The night kicks off with horse rides for youngsters starting at 4 p.m. and ending at 5 p.m. John Hardy's BBQ is servin' up grub starting at 5 p.m. This is your opportunity to meet n' greet the people of T4T. There will be a tribute program starting at 7 p.m. with special guest speakers including Susan Gunderson from LifeSource and Jennifer Stickland Jones from Byron, MN who received the gift of life (lung transplant) in October of 2017.  Lifesource, Be the Match and Lion’s Eye Bank will have representatives available to talk with at the celebration.  There will also be cowboy poetry, silent auction, cash bar and opportunities to donate to help reach our goal of $250,000.  We will cap off the night dancing to the band Eclipse starting around 8 p.m.