decorahnews.com feature story: Organ donation awareness is important to this teenager

Did you know that there are currently over 117,000 Americans waiting for a life-saving organ transplant?  One donor can save up to 8 lives, and one South Winneshiek student is doing something to help raise awareness.

On April 27th, Prairie Shooting Stars 4H Club member Chance Adam and the Winneshiek 4-H County Council will be hosting the first ever Clover Dash 5K for Organ Donation Awareness in Decorah. Adam, a freshman at South Winneshiek High School, is organizing the event for his senior leadership project for 4-H County Council.

Adam's devotion for running and passion for organ donation awareness following the death of his father are the drives behind this event. "I love to run," says Adam. "I am out for cross county and track and I have run in several 5Ks in the last few years, so when I was trying to come up with my leadership project, I knew I wanted to do something with running and organ donation."

Adam's father Scott was an organ donor.  Since Scott's death in 2015, Adam and his family have been advocates for organ donation. Last June, Chance and his family met the man that received one of his dad's kidneys.

Adam says he is hoping to raise $500 to $1,000 to donate to the Iowa Donor Network. "I would like to invite the community to participate. If running and/or walking are not your thing, you can still donate towards the cause," says Adam.

The race will start and finish at Wold Park in Decorah. Both runners and walkers are invited to participate. Registration will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 7:55 a.m. on race day. The opening ceremony will be at 8:00 a.m. with the race to follow.  Awards will be given to the top three male finishers and the top three female finishers.  Awards will be presented after the race.  All profits from the 5K will be given to the Iowa Donor Network to help promote organ donation awareness in our state and to help organ donor recipients and their families with expenses. 

To register visit https://cloverdash5k.weebly.com/  Registration must be received by April 11th to guarantee a t-shirt. Registration forms and monetary donations should be mailed to (make checks payable to the Winneshiek County Extension Office):

​Winneshiek County Extension Office
Attention: Clover Dash 5K
325B Washington Street
Decorah, IA  52101

Questions can be directed to Chance Adam at 563-568-1389 or organdonationcloverdash5k@gmail.com.