Timmay 5K has 8th year fundraising for transplant center

(ABC 6 NEWS) – A couple hundred people ran for a good cause Saturday in Rochester in the Timmay 5k. The event is put on by the Tim Rasmusson Foundation — it helps raise awareness about organ donation.

Tim Rasmusson died suddenly at the age of 26 of a heart aneurysm. After his passing, Tim helped countless people by donating his eyes and organs — even giving two separate people the ability to see. His family and friends organized the first 5k a year later in 2015. Since then, they have donated over $160,000 to the Gift of Life Transplant House.

His family says the foundation and the 5k help them continue to feel close to Tim even after his passing.

"Tim lives through us. Through the foundation," said Tim’s father Steve Rasmusson.

"Nobody wants to be in that situation, but we have to deal with life the way it is and we might as well help others," said Wade Clark, Tim’s cousin.

The annual event also brings in other families who have lost their loved ones–and have donated their organs–creating a community of support.

"It’s been something that we’ve kind of — that we’ve kind of held on to this whole time because we know that a part of Eric lives on. That his heart is still beating in someone else," said Chris Howard, who lost her husband Eric last the day before father’s day 2021.

She said her family immediately knew that Eric would have wanted his organs donated.