WEWS NewsChannel 5 Sports Director Andy Baskin emcees annual Lifebanc event

CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio - According to Lifebanc, nearly 115,000 men, women and children nationwide are waiting for life-saving organ transplants.  More than 1,800 reside in Northeast Ohio.

Saturday morning, roughly  thousands headed to Blossom Music Center for Lifebanc’s annual Gift of Life Walk and Run.

WEWS NewsChannel 5 Sports Director Andy Baskin served as emcee of the event. It is a cause that is close to his heart, his brother was a recipient. Baskin, like so many others at the event, took part to remember and honor a loved one.

The event opened at 8:30 a.m. with a special ceremony in “The Legacy Garden.” The Legacy Garden celebrates and honors the lives of those touched by organ, eye and tissue donation and transplantation.

Lynda Corea's son was a recipient in 1997 and a donor in 2006. Team MAC is dedicated to Michael Allen Corea. "We decided a long time ago that we needed to celebrate his life and we decided a long time ago the way to do that was to raise money for Lifebanc to increase organ, eye and tissue donation," said Corea.

The family of Kevin Fox, one of the Brunswick teenagers killed in a car accident in June was among the two thousand people who took strides to help Lifebanc. "To save somebody's life, how many people can say that and Kevin saved more than eight lives," said Colleen Fox.

The nation's first face transplant recipient, Connie Culp, was among the walkers.

This year, Lifebanc had a record number of attendees as well as teams.

After the walk and run there were prizes, awards, refreshments, activities for children and music.

The event raised more than $200,000.