Living the Mission: Tiny Transplant Titans
By Vicki-Ann Downing ’21G
Steve Squillante ’12 and Shannon Rose Squillante ’12 were honored by the Boston Celtics as “Heroes Among Us” for their work to support pediatric transplant patients and their families through their nonprofit, Tiny Transplant Titans.
The Squillantes, who live in Weymouth, Massachusetts, founded the organization after their son, Stephen, was born in October 2021 with biliary atresia, a liver disease that required a lifesaving transplant. In August 2023, when Stephen was 22 months old, Shannon donated a portion of her liver and became his living donor.
Stephen, now 4, is doing well despite a diagnosis of post-transplant cancer, which he beat after six months of treatment through the Jimmy Fund of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.
People who are tested for organ donation are told that it will be the most comprehensive health screening of their lives. When Steve and Shannon were tested, Steve was diagnosed with lymphoma. He continues to be monitored but has not needed treatment.
Tiny Transplant Titans, which is funded through individual donations and fundraisers, such as a golf tournament and a team in the Falmouth Road Race, has raised more than $120,000 since 2023 to provide care packages, anniversary gifts, and holiday shopping cards to children and families awaiting organ transplants.
More than 200 care packages — containing a toy, blanket, and other comfort items — have been given to families of children awaiting transplants. Gifts to celebrate one-year transplant anniversaries have been provided to more than 20 families. Most of all, the nonprofit strives to make others aware that more than 100,000 people await lifesaving organ transplants, including 1,900 children under age 18.
“We have had many hospital stays and know how difficult they can be,” the Squillantes say on their website, tinytransplanttitans.com. “We have felt the weight and emotion of going through the transplant process and waiting for your child to receive a life-saving gift. We know that a transplant is not a cure and it is a lifelong journey with bumps along the way.”
On the night in January 2025 that the Squillantes were honored by the Celtics, a bonus was the opportunity to watch Friar great Devin Carter play for the Sacramento Kings.
