Brodie's Good Vibe Tribe aims to spread awareness on organ donation ahead of Organ Donation Awareness Month

BRUNSWICK — The family behind Brodie's Good Vibe Tribe is looking to give back to the community that supported them while their child needed an organ transplant. Traci Tigue said son Brodie needed a liver transplant at 5 months old in 2015. She was a match with him and was able to be his living donor. "We have really awesome friends and family and even strangers that we didn't know that did all these amazing things for us when we were going through everything," she said. "Me and my husband were like, how do we pay this forward?" Not long after, Tigue and her husband, Russ, decided to start Brodie's Good Vibe Tribe. The Brunswick-based nonprofit aims to spread awareness about organ donation and financially support families who are going through a transplant. "It's taken a life of its own," Tigue said. "We showcase Brodie's story and the power of donation. Just here in Brunswick alone, there are lots of people that are impacted by organ donation. If we could do good for others, why not do it?" Brodie is now 9 and a half years old. Tigue said the organization typically helps anywhere from five to 20 families annually as they are getting a "second chance at life." "It's like a new start to a healthy life and how sad if you are so burdened by stress and can't take a second to celebrate it," she said. "We thought that it is important to recognize what a special gift this is and have a little bit taken off their plate." Within the past few months, Brodie's Good Vibe Tribe has given back to others in the community, Tigue said. For instance, around Christmas the organization went shopping for different transplant families and dropped their gifts off to them, she said. Recipients ranged from a man who received a new kidney in November to a 1-year-old who just got a new liver in January. Students from Hickory Ridge Elementary School, Brunswick Middle School and Brunswick High School also recently assisted Brodie's Good Vibe Tribe by visiting Cleveland Clinic's main campus and helping with a luncheon for transplant unit nurses. "We do door prizes for them," Tigue said. "Then usually we sponsor whether it's social work or a specific nurse or the girls at the front desk, just someone who works selflessly throughout the year in the transplant world. We'll do something nice for them around the holiday, too." Another goal of the organization is to promote having more conversations about organ donation, she said. "I think it's because it's always laced with a sense of bittersweetness," she said. "Someone has to die for a deceased organ to get passed along, so there's tragedy incorporated with it, but there's also a lot of magic and beauty and passing the gift of life along." April is Organ Donation Awareness Month, Tigue said. On April 8, the Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Chicago Bulls game at Rocket Arena will be part of a fundraising initiative for Brodie's Good Vibe Tribe. Those supporting Brodie's Good Vibe tribe will fill up a section of the arena, and up to 50 kids will participate in a high-five tunnel to greet players before the game, she said. Tickets can be purchased at tinyurl.com/7nmkhd8d, and a portion of the proceeds will go back to the nonprofit. For more information on Brodie's Good Vibe Tribe, visit bgtv.org. "I think there's a real opportunity here for us to help people understand what (organ donation) is, create awareness and help people while they go through everything," Tigue said. Contact reporter Madisyn Woodring at (330) 721-4049 or mwoodring@medina-gazette.com.