With the cost of a transplant often exceeding $500,000, many transplant patients are unable to shoulder the financial burden of such a procedure. The Children’s Organ Transplant Association (COTA) is a national charity dedicated to organizing and guiding communities in raising funds for transplant-needy patients. In Bloomington, volunteers are raising funds for transplant patients like local teen Timothy Isom.

Born on April 3, 1993, Timothy was diagnosed with End Stage Renal Disease, and doctors at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, Indiana performed a life-saving kidney transplant on April 26, 2011. An estimated $50,000 is being raised by Bloomington volunteers.