Jim Koenig

Jim Koenig is a loving husband, generous neighbor, friend, brother & Austin’s cool Dad. Those of you, who know Jim well, know his generous heart is very sick. Diagnosed in 2008 at age 41, Jim suffers from cardiomyopathy with severe arrhythmia, the same disease that has affected the lives of his own father, son, brother, sister, cousin, and aunt. Today Jim is in critical need. He has been placed on the heart transplant list at Stanford and within the next few months, he is expecting a new heart and therefore a new chance at living a long healthy life.

Born and raised in Santa Cruz, California, Jim grew up in San Lorenzo Valley and attended SLV elementary, middle and high schools. He lives in Santa Cruz with his wife, Nicole. His son, Austin, is now off at college. Jim worked with his brother Mark, at Giant Electric for many years. Jim even stepped up and ran the company for Mark when Mark received his heart transplant!

Jim started playing baseball at a young age, working his way through little league, pony league and colt league, on up through high school and then played at Cabrillo College. Jim is also an avid fisherman and outdoorsman and for years has planned week-long getaways and camping trips with family and friends, old and new. Along with his generous heart, Jim’s great sense of humor never fails to keep the fun coming. Sharing his passions with those he loves brings him the greatest joy.

Having lost his father to this same heart disease at a young age, he was nearly on his own as a teen. He learned early on how to support himself by working hard, but he always made time for fun and for giving back to the community. Jim knows the importance of having role models for our community’s youth, particularly those who have lost a parent. As a little league coach, neighbor or a team parent for his son Austin’s sports, Jim has always found opportunities to help others that need a role model, a second chance, or just to provide a hearty home-cooked meal for those around him. Jim always went the extra mile to make all the kids feel special and happy. As part of the Harbor High Boys Volleyball family, Jim made sure all kids had their needed equipment, transportation, and provided many special barbecues for the team at tournaments and team fundraising events.

His father also gave Jim the gift of loving the great outdoors, fishing and camping. Sadly, Jim’s father, Dick Koenig, died at the young age of 46. We are grateful that science has come a long way since then, allowing heart transplants to save the life of his older brother Mark, their cousin Russell and soon Jim, himself. But transplantation is a very costly operation, with huge aftercare costs to absorb. One of the most difficult things to do is to ask for financial help. But Jim Koenig and his family need your help!

Please lighten the financial burden with your donation to the campaign fund at Help Hope Live in honor of Jim. Jim and his family need to focus on his health. To help Jim with the financial burdens not covered by insurance, we have established this fundraising campaign with Help Hope Live. They are a non-profit organization that has been helping the transplant community, including Jim’s brother, Mark, for over 30 years. (Scroll down to see why we chose Help Hope Live.)

Jim truly has a heart of gold. He brings light to the community, continually turning toward those in need where others may not even notice. He is an amazing father and a pillar for his family, friends and community. Now it is our turn to help Jim and his family in this important and critical recovery during and after the heart transplant so he can return to health. Thank you for considering supporting this funny, generous, humbled, truly deserving and well-loved brother, husband, father, and friend who has touched so many lives.

FAQs:

What Can I do?
Please spread this information to anyone who knows Jim. Tell them about the campaign fund in honor of Jim at Help Hope Live.org Let Alice Colby: [email protected], know who we may have missed sending this message to directly. Alice would also like all of your email addresses, (if you did not receive an email from me (Alice), I do not have it. This helps us stay in touch with you easily. Please do not contact Jim or Nicole directly! They are overwhelmed. Alice, Kelli & Kim are your point people. Kelli’s email is: [email protected]. Kim’s is: [email protected]. We will post updates here. Of course, your donation helps too; possibly even the most! Learn as much as you can by researching on your own and taking care of your own health. Please consider becoming an organ donor! One person can save as many as 8 lives! (More information is available at Dontaelife.ca.org.) Please let us know if you are interested in helping with future fund raising events. There are 3 planned already and more to come. For more details, please see below. Please check back at this site for updates.

What are the Costs?
The total costs from evaluation through post-op care vary from patient to patient. Suffice it to say they are exorbitant! Jim will spend about 3 months at Stanford’s housing post-op, so he can be closely monitored for heart function. (They live over an hour away from Stanford.) Insurance does not cover this purely out of pocket, necessary expense of minimally $10,000. Of course, neither he nor Nicole will be able to generate income on their own during this time. Just the “regular” bills alone will be staggering. Add to that, prescriptions, therapy, housing, additional doctor’s appointments and you get the point!

Why donate through Help Hope Live instead of directly to Jim?
We have chosen to fundraise with Help Hope Live in part because Help Hope Live provides both tax-deductibility to the full extent allowed by law and fiscal accountability to his contributors. Contributors can be sure that funds contributed will be used only to pay or reimburse medically-related expenses. Additionally, your donations through Help Hope Live are non-taxable income for Jim. You can learn much more about the additional benefits and support Help Hope Live offers by spending time on their website. Please, understand that this is a big benefit for Jim and they assure your donations only go to appropriate reasons. To make a donation to this fundraising campaign, click on the Donate Now button. Or, send a check directly to Help Hope Live. All checks are payable to Help Hope Live and in the memo line write: In honor of Jim Koenig. Proceeds raised in honor of Jim will go to assist with Jim’s uninsured medical expenses related to the transplant.

Thank you for taking the time to read and absorb all of this. We know it’s a lot. Considering everything, Jim & family are doing fine. This can really tax your system. Never the less, Jim is very persevering and generally upbeat. He has a great support system around him too. Giant Electric is still going strong and you should not hesitate at all to inquire about electrical services! We deeply appreciate your support! Take care everyone!

With Love, the extended Koenig Family