A big thank you to freelance writer Melissa Rigney Baxter and to the Waukesha Freeman for writing and publishing this beautiful article on Gavin. The article focuses on Gavin’s fight for life, the financial burden of his upcoming transplant, and the upcoming Jim Gill concert and fundraising efforts for Gavin.

To read the article, click here.

Greenfield, WI – A fun, family-friendly event and great way to get friends together will be held to raise funds in honor of Gavin Winslow, who is in need of multiple kidney transplants.

“Bowlin’ for Gavin” will take place on Sunday, January 28, 2007 from l:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at Classic Lanes Bowling Alley at 5404 W. Layton Avenue, Greenfield, WI. Cost to participate is $10 for adults and $5 for children under ten, which includes three games of bowling and shoe rental. Tickets may be purchased at the check-in table at the door on the day of the event. Bumper bowling will also be available for the children, and silent auction items will be on display for bid from a variety of vendors. Pizza and beverages will also be available to purchase.

To view the entire press release, please click here.

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To view this press release, please click here.

You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view this file, please download the latest version here.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 13, 2006
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Glenda Herro (262) 524-9469

Waukesha, WI – Local resident Will Emslie, who sponsored a canister fundraising campaign in honor of sweet baby Gavin Winslow in October, will be extending his fundraising efforts during this upcoming holiday season. Emslie Farm successfully collected funds in Gavin’s honor during their recent fall and Halloween pumpkin sale. Mr. Emslie will continue to have canisters available at his farm to accept contributions as customers shop for their Christmas trees and wreaths.

Emslie Farm realizes that kidney transplants are expensive, around $200,000 each! They are aware that the first year of follow up for Gavin will cost about $40,000, without including any hospital stays he may have during his first year. Moreover, they know that Gavin will need to be monitored for the rest of his life. They understand that the medications needed to keep Gavin’s new kidney functioning, costs on average, $2,000 per month, and that this cost will incur for his family as long as his kidney continues to function. Since the average kidney transplant lasts only 15-20 years they recognize, that at some point, Gavin will need another transplant.

Because of all these expenses, Emslie Farm, along with Gavin’s family and friends, has joined with the Children’s Organ Transplant Association to raise $100,000.

The Children’s Transplant Association (COTA) is a national, nonprofit 501© 3 charity dedicated to helping families raise funds for transplant-related expenses. Over the past 20 years they have helped more than 1,000 families, in 49 states, in all regions of the United States, raise millions of dollars for their transplant-related expenses. Contributions to COTA, on behalf of Gavin Winslow, are 100% tax-deductible.

Emslie Farm is located at S1W26417 Northview Road in Waukesha, WI. To find the tree of your childhood memories, choose from their wide selection of Fraser, Canaan, Balsam, Scotch White Pine, Blue and White Spruce, along with a variety of wreaths (three-foot candy cane and cross-shaped). Please call 262-617-4032 for specific dates and times of sales.

For more information about Emslie Farm or other fundraising and volunteer opportunities, please contact Jane Schwalbach at 262-549-6129 or email janeschwalbach@yahoo.com.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 9, 2006

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Glenda Herro (262) 524-9469

MEDIA ADVISORY

Announcing The Launch of the “Save Baby Gavin” Website

Waukesha, WI – With the building momentum of the fundraising efforts for baby Gavin Winslow’s lifesaving kidney transplant, a new website has been created to spread the word about the Gavin’s story and provide an easy, efficient way for interested parties to volunteer their time and money to this cause.

Born on February 23, 2006, Lake Mills baby Gavin Winslow was diagnosed with end stage renal disease, making a kidney transplant the only option for his future. Because typical insurance plans pay only 80% of the “normal and customary” expenses incurred for such a procedure, Gavin’s family could be responsible for as much as $100,000 in deductible costs and other transplant-related costs. In order to help Gavin’s family with such expenses, family and friends are working round-the-clock on an ambitious fundraising campaign to raise this $100,000 with the help of the Children’s Organ Transplant Association of Bloomington, Indiana (COTA).

Log on to savebabygavin.com to see this newly-completed website and become more familiar with Gavin’s story.

For more information about this website, contact Kristin Carpenter at Kristin@savebabygavin.com.

Fighting the fight
By Hillary Dickerson
Originally printed in the Darlington Republican Journal on October 6, 2006.

GAVIN WINSLOW, the grandson of Nancy and Dean Winslow, Darlington, was born with serious health problems and is currently in kidney failure. At 7 months, he undergoes 10 hours of dialysis a day and is waiting until he’s big enough 18 months and 22 pounds for a transplant. At 7 months, the lives of most babies are pretty laid back. There’s eating, sleeping, more eating, some playing, lots of smiling and more sleeping.

But for Gavin Winslow, the grandson of Nancy and Dean Winslow, Darlington, and the son of Jay and Jill Winslow, Lake Mills, his first few months of life have been a struggle, to say the least. Ten hours of Gavin’s day are consumed with the dialysis treatment he needs simply to survive.

Gavin, who was born Feb. 23 with a collapsed lung, bladder obstruction and in kidney failure, is waiting for the timing to be just right. When he reaches 22 pounds expected right around the 18-month mark he’ll undergo a kidney transplant.

Aside from his serious, life-threatening health issues, though, Gavin is just like other babies his age with his heart-melting smiles.

If one thing has been certain during these last few trying months, it’s that Gavin armed with his big brown eyes and infectious grin has proven himself as a fighter. In fact, on his website, under a picture of tiny Gavin in the hospital, just hours old and hooked up to all sorts of monitors, it tells the story of this baby with the will to live: “Gavin’s first day, we were told he wouldn’t make it, but he fought the fight and won!”

Gavin’s health issues didn’t come as a surprise at birth, his grandma Nancy Winslow explained. In Jill’s fifth month of pregnancy, an ultrasound detected abnormalities. There was no amniotic fluid surrounding the placenta, which meant the kidneys weren’t working properly.

For the next four months, each day, Jill drove back and forth to Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, where she and Gavin were closely monitored. Near the end of the pregnancy, Jill went twice a day, staying with her parents in Waukesha to cut down on the commute.

Doctors, Winslow said, prepared the family for the worst-case scenario.

And then on Feb. 23, just days after his dad’s 29th birthday, Gavin had a rough entry into the world, about three weeks early. Weighing in at 7-pounds, 2-ounces, Gavin spent the next 76 days in the hospital, undergoing tests, procedures and surgeries.

“I prayed a lot,” said Winslow, looking back on those stressful, emotional days surrounding the birth of her fifth grandchild. She and Dean drove to Milwaukee to see Gavin the day he was born. “It was pretty scary for a while. It was a miracle. It was definitely a miracle that he made it.”

Finally, on May 10, Gavin was able to go home. But it wasn’t the traditional homecoming. In addition to all the baby gear that filled the Winslows’ Lake Mills home, there were boxes and boxes of medical supplies for Gavin’s dialysis.

As Gavin undergoes the dialysis each night a process that takes 10 hours he’s growing.

At his most recent check-up, he weighed 14-pounds, and he’s expected to start on a growth hormone soon to help facilitate the growth necessary for him to undergo the transplant when he reaches 22 pounds, hopefully by 18 months. Winslow said both Jay and Jill will begin the testing soon to see who is the closest match.

“The transplant is definitely needed to save his life,” said Winslow.

Meanwhile, the family waits. They pray. They do their best to keep a positive outlook.

But, Winslow admitted, tears filling her eyes, this is the most difficult time in their lives.

Along with his family, Gavin made his first visit to Darlington Sept. 10 to meet the whole family. “He was just smiling at everyone that day,” Winslow noted.

When he does undergo the transplant, Winslow explained, the kidney will last between 15 and 20 years, at which time another transplant will be necessary. His entire life, following the transplant, Gavin will be on a regimen of anti-rejection medications that will cost between $1,500 and $1,800 each month.

Jay and Jill, Winslow said, are consumed now with fund-raising for the transplant. In mid-February Winslow is planning an auction fund-raiser in Darlington to help raise the $100,000 the family needs. There are currently fund-raisers underway in the Lake Mills and Milwaukee area.

Prior to the February fund-raiser in this area, anyone who would like to donate can mail checks or money orders, payable to Children’s Organ Transplant Association (COTA), with “In honor of Gavin Winslow” written on the memo line of the check, to 2501 COTA Dr., Bloomington, IN 47403, or visit http://www.cotaforgavinw.com to donate using a credit card.