Tammy Nichols and Tracy Copeland | Organ Donor Awareness
Tammy Nichols and Tracy Copeland have both received life-saving organ donations and will speak to the club about their experiences and support of organ, eye and tissue donor awareness.
Currently, Tracy Copeland is employed as a Project Manager for GENCO Inc, A FedEx Company. Born in California, Tracy moved around Lake Tahoe a bit finally settling in Truckee in1979; she moved to Sparks in 1995 after meeting her husband Glen. If it wasn’t for the miraculous gift of life that Tracy received in March of 1998, she would not have ever had the opportunity to watch her daughter grow up, marry and would have missed the joy of her precious grandson, Silas.
Sudden illness brought a quick education in organ and tissue donation. Tracy was blessed to meet her donor family on the one year anniversary of her liver transplant. They have become very close and seek opportunity to share their story together.
In efforts to raise awareness regarding the need for organ and tissue donation Tracy founded Sierra Nevada Donor Awareness, a local, completely volunteer organization committed to raising awareness for the need for organ and tissue donation while honoring donors and donor families. Sierra Nevada Donor Awareness has provided thousands of dollars to local individuals in the form of educational and transplant related financial aid.
Tracy considers it an honor to share the story of her hero, Terry Lee Snow, with civic organizations such as Sparks Rotary. In February 2004, Tracy was honored to receive the Paul Harris Fellow Award presented by the Simi Valley Sonrise Rotary club.
Tammy Nichols would not be alive today if it weren't for the mother and father of a six-year-old little boy named Nathan, whose life was taken in an automobile accident on the way to the zoo, saying "YES" to organ donation. Nathan saved her life that night, and the lives of three others, with his gifts of life. The young boy's parents surprised Tammy in 2014 by attending the Sierra Nevada Donor Awareness Walk. Tammy later joined them in Pocatello, Idaho to join them in Pocatello's first Donate Life Awareness Walk.