Partner Russell G. Tisman Helps Raise Over $350,000 for Harboring Hearts, a Transplant Support Organization

Uniondale, NY, November 27, 2017—Russell G. Tisman served as co-chair of the annual fund raising benefit for Harboring Hearts,  and has helped raise over $350,000 for the heart transplant support organization.  Founded by family members of heart transplant patients, Harboring Hearts provides financial and emotional support for heart transplant patients, families, and caregivers.  The organization works with partnered hospitals in New York and California to provide financial assistance and other immediate support to patients awaiting or undergoing a heart transplant or critical cardio-thoracic surgical care, in addition to providing other programming.

Mr. Tisman, a heart transplant recipient, is an active volunteer for LiveOnNY and the Long Island Chapter of Transplant Recipients International Organization.  To help address the critical shortage of organs available for transplant, he participates in donor enrollment drives, speaks on organ donation, and volunteers at fundraising/charity events.

The Sixth Annual Harboring Hearts Benefit Gala, held in the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse in Lincoln Center, honored individuals for their contributions in cardiac care.  Because its board finances Harboring Hearts operations, all proceeds from this event benefit Harboring Hearts programming.

This year’s honorees were:

  • Paolo Colombo, M.D., Associate Professor of Cardiology and Medical Director at the Center for Advanced Cardiac Care at New York Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center, who specializes in treating patients with heart failure, cardiac assist device, and heart transplant;
  • Erica Jones, M.D., Director of the HeartHealth Program Dalio Institute of Cardiovascular Imaging at New York Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical College and Associate Attending Physician at New York Presbyterian Hospital specializing in cardiology and cardiovascular disease.
  • Jessica Karp and Jordan Brown, co-founders of Hu Kitchen and Hu Chocolate, which are healthy food companies.
  • Helen Irving, President and CEO of LiveOnNY, the second largest organ procurement organization in the country, serving 13 million people, more than 100 acute hospitals, and ten major transplant centers.

Anthony Rapp, who played the male lead in the original Broadway production of Rent and reprised the role in the film version, as well as playing Charlie Brown in the Broadway production of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, provided the entertainment for the evening.  Amy Silverstein, New York Times best-selling author and two-time heart transplant survivor, was the Master of Ceremonies.

“I was honored to co-chair this great event because Harboring Hearts plays such an important role in assisting heart patients and their caregivers,” Mr. Tisman said.  “It was especially gratifying because two honorees played important roles in my transplant:  Dr. Paolo Colombo, my transplant cardiologist, and Helen Irving who heads LiveOnNY which procured my heart for transplant.”  “The fact that every penny we raised goes to Harboring Hearts programming is phenomenal.”