2nd Chance Trail Ride - Forms & Info

Information provided to the GoodHearts Foundation by the Second Annual 2nd Chance Trail Ride:

Event Information

Ride day – Saturday May 11th, 2013
Location – Lindbergh to Heinsburg
on the Iron Horse Trail
$30 per rider -or- horse & wagon (You must bring your own horse and wagon)

Supper

$15/Adult for supper
$10/Child for supper
Silent and live auctions
Live music - Don Bouvette & his band

Come ride with us on our second annual 2nd Chance Trail Ride in support of organ donation awareness.  The ride will be a slow pleasure ride of approximately 5 hours through natural lands.

Morris driving a team of horses at last year's ride

Collect your money and record your pledges on the pledge form available for download below. Cheques should be written to GoodHearts Foundation if an official tax receipt is required. When you arrive on May 11th please have your donations collected and your pledge sheet balanced. We recommend you make a photocopy of your pledges for future reference or if there are any problems. You are encouraged to have your sponsorship in cheque payments to minimize work and reduce the chance of theft. Please fill out a separate registration form for each rider including children. This way we can keep track of all riders. A “Participant Waiver” must be signed for each rider. Registration forms and waiver forms will be available at Ride Registration.

Money raised will be donated to GoodHearts.

Schedule

6pm – 9pm  Early registration on site, Friday May 10th
8:30am – 10am  Registration, Saturday May 11th
11:00am  Ride starts
5:30pm  Supper
7:00pm  Presentation from University of Alberta Transplant Team
8:00pm  Live and Silent Auction
9:00pm  Don Bouvette Country Band

(times may change)

Additional Information

• Overnight camping is also available in Heinsburg for $10.00 a night.
• Bring your own lunch and water/juice.
• Bring a halter to tie your horse.
• Hall will be open during the day and silent auction items will be set up.  Enter your bid on the silent auction items.

Forms & Information to Download

• Information Sheet (pdf)
• Rider's Pledge Sheet (pdf)
• Lindbergh Trail Map (pdf)

Further Information

• Alberta's Iron Horse Trail website
• 2nd Chance Trail Ride facebook page
• Read about Morris Irvine's personal journey and the 2nd Chance Trail Ride on our website
• Watch Morris and his wife discuss Organ Donation Awareness and the 2nd Annual 2nd Chance Trail Ride on Around the Region on CKSA-Lloydminster (YouTube video)

2nd Chance Trail Ride

Lung recipient rallies friends to ride for transplant cause



Lung recipients Dianne and Morris


Morris Irvine was on oxygen for three years.

Yet when doctors suggested he consider a lung transplant, the Lindbergh resident was not convinced he wanted to undergo the surgery.

“Only after I met and spoke to some lung recipients did I decide to go for it,” said the 65-year-old father of six, grandfather of 23 and great-grandfather of three.

The recipients’ positive attitude to getting a second chance to live impressed him, as did their healthy appearance so he opted to be listed for a transplant at the University of Alberta Hospital, Canada’s biggest and busiest transplant centre.

Moe had a double-lung transplant in March 2011 — nine months after he was listed.

“There were five of us who were transplanted about the same time, and we have stayed in touch,” he recalled recently.

Grateful about the outcome, Moe, his family and the handful of lung recipients, including Tom Matthews, Diane Brown, Harvey Nelson and Judy Laws, soon started looking for ways to say “thank you” to the donor families and the transplant staff.

 “Most of us live in the country and have horses, so organizing a trail ride made sense,” said Moe.

They formed the 2nd Chance Trail Ride and in May 2012 put on their first fund-raising event.

“The response from friends and other recipients was amazing,” said Arla Pirtle, one of the ride’s organizers and Moe’s daughter.  “We raised about $25,000 for the Canadian Transplant Games, as well as raising organ and tissue donor awareness,” said Arla.

The latter is especially important because the organ and tissue donor rate in Alberta has fallen so dramatically that is the lowest in Canada.

Morris out riding pre-lung transplant

“The ride was great fun and the response from the rural community was overwhelming,” she said.

This year, the 2nd Chance Trail Ride is raising funds for the GoodHearts Foundation, she said.

“My parents and the committee responsible for the 2nd Chance Trail Ride appreciate the financial help GoodHearts gives transplant patients, especially in providing furnished apartments so close to the hospital.”

 “My dad and mom hope we can raise enough money to open another apartment,” she said.

About 100 riders are expected to participate in the May 11 event. Riders provide their own horses, but people also can ride in horse-drawn wagons. The wagons carry up to 14 people. Last year seven wagons took part in the ride. The ride from Lindbergh to Heinsburg along the Iron Horse Trail takes about 5 hours.

Riders can register either on the morning of May 11 from 8:30 to 10, or the night before from 6 to 9. Overnight camping is available in Heinsburg.

The riders will set off at 11 a.m. on May 11, and will stop along the way for lunch. Participants have to bring their own lunch.

A supper as well as silent and live auctions are part of the 2nd Chance Trail Ride. Nashville recording artist Don Bouvette and his band will provide the entertainment.

For the full schedule and pledge forms, please see our 2nd Chance Trail Ride - Info & Forms post or the 2nd Chance Trail Ride Facebook page.

GoodHearts in 2012 - A Recap

As we begin a new year it is a good time to reflect back on the past year.  Here is a quick list of some the changes, challenges and accomplishments of 2012:

Directors Silvio and Maggie at our AGM

Board of Directors

• Linda Figgures, Sister Patricia and Ron Kube retired from the board. We thank them for their many hours and hours of service to our organization.
• Returning board members were Silvio Dobri, Jenn Card and Jackie Foord.
• Maggie Baczynski, Barb Foxall, Josh Eberhart and Helen Klimo joined our board.
• We said goodbye to board member and dear friend Kevin Fankhanel who passed away this year.

Events

One of our suites at the Galan Lofts

• AGM - Our Annual General Meeting was held in September. Our president Jackie summarized what the GoodHearts had been up to in 2012 and Jeff Simpson presented on insurance to the membership.  Visit our Facebook page for photos of the event or to view Jeff's insurance presentation.
• GoodHearts Dinner - Our annual dinner was held in October at the Mayfield Inn and was a great success. At the dinner the first Modry Bursary was presented to Ashley Peregrym, testimonials were read from Liz & Bob and Faith, and a presentation was given explaining our transplant housing at the Galen Lofts. Visit our Facebook page to view photos of the dinner or to view the Transplant Housing at the Galen Lofts presentation.

GoodHearts Online

• We continued publishing our newsletter.  Visit our Newsletter Archive to read newsletter from 2012 and past years.
• We started this blog in September as well as creating a Facebook page and twitter account.

Thanks for your attention and support this year! Here's to a productive 2013.