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 Augusta, volunteers are raising funds for transplant patients like local child Ian Calloway.

Born on March 22, 2000, Ian was diagnosed with Interstitial Lung Disease, and doctors at St. Louis Children’s Hospital performed a life-saving double lung transplant October 16, 2006. An estimated $50,000 is being raised by Augusta volunteers.