2025 Scholarship Winner: Allison Kirts
September 2, 2025
INDIANAPOLIS – Allison Kirts, 20, of Newton, Illinois has been awarded a $3,000 educational scholarship from Indiana Donor Network Foundation.
Indiana Donor Network Foundation established its scholarship fund in 2005 to provide educational scholarships for family members of Indiana residents who are organ and tissue donors, living donors, transplant recipients or people waiting for lifesaving transplants.
Those selected as scholarship recipients often help raise awareness about the importance of organ and tissue donation in saving and healing lives.
This year, the Foundation awarded $25,000 in scholarships, made possible due to the generosity of financial contributions made by Indiana Donor Network employees and supporters of the Foundation.
Other 2025 scholarship recipients include Lainey Akins of Fishers ($7,000); Alyssa Heath of Wadesville and Elsa Estridge of Chesterton ($5,000); Katherine Fisher of Connersville ($3,000); Emma Murphy of Indianapolis ($1,000) and Sara Kamp-Austin of Crown Point ($1,000).
In the essay portion of her scholarship application, Kirts shared her connection to organ donation.
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“During my freshman year of college, my father unexpectedly passed away at the age of 51 after suffering a brain aneurysm,” she wrote. “My dad was always willing to help other people. So, he had always been an organ donor. He never considered the idea of not being an organ donor.”
Her father was able to donate his liver and both kidneys to save the lives of two men.
“My dad will always be a hero in my eyes. But he is a true hero to other people as well by donating his organs,” she said. “When my brother and I both received our driver’s licenses, my parents suggested that we mark the organ donor and we did.”
A 2023 graduate of Newton Community High School in Newton, Illinois, Kirts is a student at Eastern Illinois University majoring in elementary education.
Despite age or medical history, anyone can sign up to be a donor at DonateLifeIndiana.org. Learn more about Indiana Donor Network.
Indiana Donor Network’s mission is to save and enhance the quality of life through organ and tissue donation and transplantation. Its vision is to be a leader in organ and tissue recovery. Founded in 1987, the organization coordinates donation in 85 of the state’s 92 counties and serves transplant hospitals throughout the U.S.
ABOUT INDIANA DONOR NETWORK
The decision to become an organ, tissue and cornea donor is a decision to give the gift of life. Indiana Donor Network serves as the vital link between donors and patients waiting for lifesaving organ transplants, healing tissue and corneas to restore sight. The organization is a federally designated organ recovery organization and accredited tissue bank serving 85 of Indiana’s 92 counties. Its team of nearly 400 dedicated professionals is committed to saving and healing lives through donation and transplantation, championing the cause through education and outreach and supporting donor families in their time of need. For more or to sign up as a donor, visit Indiana Donor Network online.
ABOUT INDIANA DONOR NETWORK FOUNDATION
As a subsidiary of Indiana Donor Network founded in 1997, Indiana Donor Network Foundation enhances the lives of those touched by donation through education, innovation, caring and support. The foundation raises funds through individual contributions, special events and sponsorships to support transplant recipients and the families of donor heroes. For more, visit Indiana Donor Network Foundation online.
Indiana Donor Network® and the Indiana Donor Network Foundation® are federally registered trademarks.
ABOUT DONATE LIFE INDIANA
Since 1998, Donate Life Indiana has been the state-authorized nonprofit organization responsible for managing the Indiana donor registry. Its mission is to save lives by creating opportunities for all Indiana citizens to sign up on the organization’s official state registry while striving to raise awareness for organ, tissue and cornea donation and transplantation through public education. For more, visit Donate Life Indiana online.
