To honor and commemorate donors and their life-saving contributions, CORE established the A Special Place memorial. Located outside CORE’s Pittsburgh office, this serene park-like area features a graduated granite wall adorned with engraved leaves, each representing a CORE donor.

Annually, CORE hosts the A Special Place ceremony to rededicate this memorial wall alongside the families of our donors from the previous year. During this solemn yet uplifting event, families gather to pay their respects and reflect on the lives their loved ones lived, as well as the lives they saved and healed through their selfless gifts.

A Special Place provides donor families with an opportunity for a final farewell, allowing them to honor their loved one’s legacy and acknowledge the transformative gifts of organ, tissue and cornea donation. The poignant ceremony reinforces the idea that ordinary people can make an extraordinary difference by becoming donors.

Attendees at the ceremony listen to moving stories shared by donor families, as well as recipients who express how donation has profoundly affected their lives. A Special Place also includes touching musical performances, a symbolic dove release in honor of those who have given the gift of life, and a donor family honor walk.