When my son, Michael, came up with his Master Plan to “donate his body to science so they can find a cure”, we had no idea that his plan would become Swifty’s plan. Our mission became raising awareness about the need for and lack of post-mortem tissue for research. This led to the discovery that many families would have liked to donate, but were never asked. Knowing the importance of tissue donation for finding cures and wanting to affect a cultural change, we needed to bring people together to have a unified voice around this difficult topic.
In Dec. 2018, we gathered families from across the country at a Family Forum to hear about their donation experiences. We cried for our children, shared how knowing they are helping other children through their donations helps our grief and discussed appropriate ways to approach families about this sensitive topic. Families that were not able to donate shared their feelings of having missed an opportunity to help and to have that legacy for their child.
This gathering, these families, became the launching point for Gift from a Child.
Their handprints are on this website in their stories on our Family Support page, they helped develop our Family Companioning program and many act as companions. Some of the families with foundations are financial supporters of GFAC as well. This page is to recognize their importance to this program, to thank them and most especially to recognize their amazing children who left us all too soon.
— Patti Gustafson
Statement of Beliefs
We believe the Gift from a Child is precious and rare.
The gift was given as a result of a child passing too soon from this world and the unimaginable loss family and friends endure.
The gift provides an invaluable resource for advancing research to improve treatments and outcomes for children who are diagnosed with brain cancer.
We believe that, after the donation, families have the right to know how their child’s tissue is being used. Good stewardship of the gift received requires keeping families informed by those who have the privilege of using our children’s tissue for their research.
We believe families have the power to change the current research culture by donating our children’s tissue. Our children’s tissue is too precious not to be shared.
We recognize that too often researchers are forced to compete for limited resources and complete unnecessary and repetitive analysis before advancing to new insights and breakthroughs.
We believe in open source data sharing and the free distribution of information for research.
Our children need us to work together because they deserve our very best!
Families & Foundations that Launched Gift from a Child
