Fundraiser to help families whose children need organ donations Saturday

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) - An Idaho Falls family is honoring their daughter by helping others.

Stephanie Morgan's daughter Payton was seven months old when doctors discovered she was in heart failure and needed a heart transplant.

Payton got her heart in August 2013. In the same year, her aunts, Stephanie's sisters, started Paces for Payton, to help the family with medical costs.

After Payton died in August of 2015, the family decided to keep the tradition going.

"When she passed away, we decided as a family that we would keep moving forward and paying it forward. And so we have just kind of continued to keep the tradition going. So every year we still hold this event to honor other transplant families in the area," Morgan said.

They also hold the run to bring awareness to organ donation.

"We usually have some paraphernalia that we can hand out that make people aware of that and whatnot. And then always just making sure that you, even though it's on your driver's license, that's not always the final say," Morgan said.

Morgan says the best way to make sure you're a registered donor is to register online HERE.

Morgan also stresses the importance of organ donation.

"Being a parent of someone who's told that the only option for your child to survive is through an organ donation, you're at the mercy of, you know, everybody else to make that decision to be a donor," Morgan said. "And it's not a cure by any means, but it does give more time for families to be with their loved ones. There are thousands of people every day waiting on the transplant list, whether it be liver or, you know, heart or kidney or whatnot. And just to give them that little bit of hope. To, you know, prolong their life a little bit. I mean. Who wouldn't want to do that?"

The 10K, 5K, and one-mile walk also features a raffle with prizes. Registration starts at 8 a.m. Saturday and the race at 9 a.m. at Snake River Landing in Idaho Falls.