About Us
The C.O.D.A. Crusade is an initiative developed by the Maddog Strong Foundation’s co-founders Frank & Cyndi Grobmeier. The Maddog Strong Foundation is a Federal 501(c )(3) Nonprofit. The C.O.D.A. Crusade grew out of many conversations with Catholic parishioners who had a positive opinion about organ donation yet refused to register and offer the gift of life to others because they had a complete misunderstanding or lack of knowledge of the church’s position on the subject. After realizing the great need for our Catholic faithful to be educated about organ donation, and knowing that over 100,000 people in the U.S. alone need a lifesaving transplant, Frank & Cyndi started the C.O.D.A. Crusade in an attempt to help save the 17 souls who die each day waiting on that lifesaving gift.
Frank and Cyndi Grobmeier
Our goal is to inspire conversations about this life-saving subject by providing insight on to broach this topic within families, with church leaders, and among everyone in our faith community.
Why is inspiring this conversation so important to us? We met at the Catholic university where Cyndi serves as a Professor of Communication to this day. Married for almost 30 years, we faced our greatest challenge to our faith when we lost our daughter, Maddie, who at the tender age of 17 has made the decision to save others by giving the gift of life through organ donation. Inspired by his daughter’s selfless bravery, Frank, a journalist and media professional, formed The Maddog Strong Foundation, an organ donation nonprofit where he serves as the Executive Director.
Maddie’s Story
Maddie Grobmeier was affectionately known to most as Maddog—a nickname given to her by her Dad when she was just a baby but one that she grew into as a strong competitive gymnast and a tenacious community leader with a servant’s heart.
Just months before she suffered an acute asthma attack that would take her from her life on earth, Maddie has a conversation with her parents about her decision to be an organ and tissue donor. Shaken by a serious car accident, she told her parents, “If something like this ever happens to me again and I don’t make it, promise me that you’ll donate my organs so that something good can come from tragedy.”
That tragedy happened just days before Maddie’s 18th birthday, but Maddie saved three people through organ donation, gave two people sight with the gifts of her corneas, and she has changed the lives of countless other through her tissues donations.
The Maddog Strong Foundation
The Maddog Strong Foundation was created in the spirit of Maddie “Maddog” Grobmeier with the mission to inspire others to engage in life-saving advocacy for organ and tissue donation.
By bringing clarity and facts that dispel the many myths surrounding this issue, we tailor education and outreach to various communities. We believe that knowledge, understanding, and compassion will drive Catholics, and others, to embrace a culture of life, inspiring charitable acts, like registering to be donor.