A quiet place to remember
The National Friends Gift of Life Garden
A shared space to remember the people whose lives have been touched by the transplant journey, and the people who loved them.
Who this space is for
This garden is open to anyone whose life has been shaped by the transplant waiting list. That includes:
- Families and loved ones of someone who died while waiting for a transplant.
- Families of deceased organ donors, those who made the decision to let a loved one pass so that others could live. This space is for honoring the donor, not only the recipient.
- Living donors, themselves, and the people who love them and want to honor the gift they gave.
- Recipients who wish to honor the donor or donor family whose gift saved their life.
- Friends, caregivers, clinicians, and community members who want to remember someone touched by transplant.
How to submit a tribute
Tributes to the garden are submitted by email and reviewed before they are published. The button below opens your email client with a starting template. You can add, remove, or rewrite anything in it.
Open a pre-filled email → Or write to support@nationalfriends.org directly.
Preview the email template
Person being remembered: (Full name, or first name and last initial) Relationship to the person being remembered: (e.g., spouse, child, friend, caregiver, donor family, recipient) Tribute (1–3 short paragraphs): Photos: (Optional. Attach any photos you would like us to consider publishing. Photos are only published with your explicit written consent.) Submitter name and contact: (Your name and a reply email or phone. You may remain anonymous to the public, but we need a way to reach you to confirm permission to publish.) Permission to publish: (Please reply "Yes" to confirm you have the right to share this tribute and that we may publish it on nationalfriends.org. You can request edits or removal at any time by writing back to this address.)
We read every message and reply. There is no form, no login, and no public comment thread. This is intentional.
What we publish, and what we don’t
- Every tribute is reviewed before it is published. We may gently suggest edits; we will never rewrite your voice.
- Identifying details (full names, dates, photos) are used only with explicit written consent from the submitter.
- Photos are welcome and are only published when you have told us, in writing, that we may publish them.
- The submitter may remain anonymous to the public. The person being remembered must be named, at minimum by first name and last initial, so the tribute is about a real person rather than an abstraction.
- Families may request edits or removal at any time by writing to support@nationalfriends.org. We will honor those requests without question.
- This is not a public guestbook. There are no comments, no reactions, and no social sharing buttons on individual tributes unless the family opts in.
Tributes in the garden
This garden is new.
As families choose to share the names and stories of the people they love, their tributes will appear here, with care, and with permission.
Inspired by
We are grateful for the long tradition of public remembrance in the transplant community, including the UNOS Donor Memorial. The National Friends Gift of Life Garden is not affiliated with that organization; it is a small, independent space built in the same spirit.