Farm full of heart: Event honors organ transplant donors and recipients

By Jonah Frangiosa | Staff Writer Oct 2, 2025

Past aisles of flowers and herbs, a barnyard became a scene for a celebration of life, honoring organ donors, recipients, and the second chances that beat on.

New England Donor Services (NEDS) last Wednesday held a ceremony at Late Bloom Farm, 52 Corliss Hill Road — the all-organic Haverhill farm owned by Anna Kelchlin, who is a heart transplant recipient herself.

It was a celebration of her success, survivorship, and beyond, emphasizing the importance of organ donation.

About 15 years ago, Kelchlin was hospital bedridden while in search of a new heart for about three months, she said. Her health began to decline due to a rare heart disease that she’d had since birth but didn’t know about until age 23.

Thankfully, NEDS connected Kelchlin with a donor and ultimately, a new lease on life.

“I was told I had to live in the hospital or I wasn’t going to be alive,” Kelchlin said to Wednesday’s crowd. “So that gift obviously has been able to allow me to do what I love — farming, growing food, and community.”

Kelchlin, and her husband, Ben, opened Late Bloom Farm in late 2023, aiming to provide a fresh, local, and ecologically grown source of veggies, herbs, and flowers to Haverhill residents.

The couple grows certified organic produce using no-till methods, minimizing disturbance of the land, and distributing their yields to the city’s restaurants and people.

It’s her way of giving back, she said: providing healthy food options to her community just as someone provided her a healthy heart years ago.

The ceremony honored both ends of the transplant: recipients and donors.

“There are two sides to organ donation,” said Matt Boger, Director of Government Relations for NEDS. “The recipients who live their life each and every day with great magnitude and appreciation, and the families who’ve lost loved ones but realized their loved one gave the gift of life to someone else. In many ways, they live on through another.”

One of those family members was Kathy O’Brien, who spoke about her late husband, Shawn. He died suddenly three years ago, but had already registered as an organ donor.

O’Brien wore a black t-shirt that read, “Enriching the lives of 19 people,” which referred to a previous number of lives saved by her husband’s aid. But as of today, she said, his tissues, bones, and organs have helped 103 people, which drew a resounding round of applause from the audience.

Those in attendance included Mayor Melinda Barrett; Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) Registrar Colleen Ogilvie; State Rep. Ryan Hamilton; and Haverhill City councilors Ralph Basiliere, Melissa Lewandowski and Devan Ferreira.

“Anna’s garlic … is the best,” Barrett said, which brought a chuckle to the crowd. “I have to get it for my Italian friends, and they love it.”

Kelchlin received citations and certificates from the Massachusetts House of Representatives, the mayor’s office, and the City Council.

The event also put a spotlight on the critical role that the Massachusetts RMV plays in these transplantations. Ogilvie said about 48% of the state’s licensed drivers or ID-holders are registered organ donors, as the RMV asks each driver upon license application or renewal.

“Motor vehicle departments are the most important source of enrollees in the program,” she said.

NEDS, which coordinates organ procurement in New England, has reported record-breaking numbers for four consecutive years.

In 2024, 648 deceased donors provided 1,570 lifesaving transplants. Since 2020, the organization has increased the annual number of donors by 80%, placing it among the top three organ procurement organizations in the nation.

For Kelchlin, working with NEDS has not only been a way to honor the donor who saved her life, but it’s also given her the chance to return that gift in what she described as a “heart-to-heart.”