Across the Globe, Thermo Fisher Scientific Supports the Virtual Donate Life Run/Walk
Thermo Fisher Scientific is partnering with One Legacy to promote organ donation and honor those who have saved lives through the gift of donation.
For the sixth consecutive year, Thermo Fisher Scientific partnered with the OneLegacy Foundation to support the annual Donate Life Run/Walk, an event to help save and heal lives by inspiring and advancing donation and transplantation of organ, eye and tissue through research, public education, and honoring the legacy of donors. But unlike other years, the Run/Walk on April 25, 2020 took place as a virtual event: participants were invited to watch the opening ceremony online and to celebrate life by run or walking in the safety of their homes and neighborhoods.
The Transplant Diagnostics Division of Thermo Fisher Scientific has been the largest team at the Donate Life Run/Walk for several years running, but since the event went virtual in 2020, the team decided to use this opportunity to drive engagement with the global transplant community. Ultimately, the team recruited 376 team members consisting of 102 employees with 273 family and friends, far exceeding the business’s original goal of 202 members. This global team included representatives all 7 continents and 12 countries:
- 324 in the USA across 28 states
- 30 in Canada across the 3 western provinces
- 10 in South Africa
- 2 in Australia and Germany
- 1 in Austria, Philippines, Poland, Switzerland, Venezuela, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and Antarctica
Additionally, the team was honored to be joined by 11 living donor and transplant recipients:
- 5 living kidney donors
- 5 kidney recipients
- 1 bone marrow recipient
The Thermo Fisher Scientific team captain, Louise Lerminiaux, would like to acknowledge a few special team members and groups who helped make this virtual Run/Walk a success:
- Uma Yu – #1 Fundraiser
- Sales Team – #1 Transplant Diagnostics department, with 109 members
- Kevin Harrell – Largest Family Winner, with 45 members
- Luminex® – Largest Vendor Participation
- Andrew Meyers – #1 Overall Virtual Race Finisher, completing his 5 km in 17:33 minutes
- Wayne White – Most interesting team member, our South Pole representative courtesy of the National Science Foundation
Given Thermo Fisher’s enthusiastic participation in the Run/Walk, OneLegacy invited several team members to take part in the open ceremony and speak on why they are running/walking for the transplant community:
- Nicole Brockway
President, Transplant Diagnostics Division – Thousand Oaks, California - Laurel Nelson
Sr. Director, Marketing, Transplant Diagnostics Division – Alpharetta, Georgia - Dr. Dave Lowe
Director, Market Development, Transplant Diagnostics Division – Crewe, United Kingdom - Carlos Papadopoulos
Europe Commercial Manager, Transplant Diagnostics Division – Langenfeld, Germany - Louise Lerminiaux
Run/Walk Team Captain, 11-year transplant recipient, and Business Transformation Lead, Transplant Diagnostics Division – Newbury Park, California
On the day of the event, Louise encouraged the team to find joy amid challenging times by focusing the purpose of the event: “Celebrate life. That’s what today is about.” Thanks to the team’s passionate support of the Run/Walk, OneLegacy will be better positioned this year and in the future to ensure that more transplant patients and their families are able to celebrate life and honor the donors who made their life-saving gift possible
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