Tag Archives: Gift of Life

25 Apr

Watch LIVE at 10am PST the 18th Annual Donate Life Run/Walk

Facebook Live Broadcast this Saturday, April 25, to Feature ABC7 Anchor Phillip Palmer, Grammy Award-Winning Music Group All-4-One, NASCAR Racer and Donor Son Joey Gase, and Many More

LOS ANGELES-Continuing its mission to inspire local communities to donate life through meaningful events, and in response to the current COVID-19 state and federal recommendations to shelter in place, OneLegacy’s Donate Life Run/Walk is going virtual in 2020. The first Donate Life Virtual Run/Walk will include a special broadcast on YouTube and Facebook Live this Saturday, April 25, at 10 a.m. PDT.

The Donate Life Run/Walk goes virtual this Saturday, April 25, to celebrate 18 years of inspiring local communities to donate life. To participate, register at http://donateliferunwalk.org/.

As the largest event of its kind in the nation, the Donate Life Run/Walk gathers over 12,000 participants at Cal State Fullerton every year to celebrate the power of donation and transplantation. The first virtual run/walk is inviting organ, eye and tissue donation advocates, as well as health and wellness enthusiasts, to join the live broadcast from home and participate in their own way.

“Whether they eat their breakfast from their couch, run or walk around the block, or pace from the hallway to their kitchen, we want participants to join us on YouTube or Facebook Live for a unique experience tailored to these unique times,” said Kathleen Hostert, executive director of the run/walk and public education manager for OneLegacy, the nonprofit organization dedicated to saving lives through organ, eye and tissue donation in the seven-county greater Los Angeles area. “For the last 17 years, we have gathered thousands of participants and volunteers at Cal State Fullerton to share the importance of organ, eye and tissue donation. My husband, Craig, and I look forward to our 2020 virtual run/walk, expanding our reach beyond Southern California to several states in the U.S. and countries around the world. This will be a wonderful event to honor the power of organ, eye and tissue donation.”

A moving opening ceremony will start the broadcast, co-hosted by ABC7’s news anchor Phillip Palmer as well as longtime Donate Life Run/Walk host Jim Rhoads. Special appearances include Grammy award-winning music group All-4-One; NASCAR racer and donor son Joey Gase; and dozens of organ, eye and tissue donation advocates who will open their homes to share their experience and inspire those watching the virtual event.

A VIRTUAL EVENT FOR DONOR FAMILIES, RECIPIENTS AND DONATION ADVOCATES

For the 18^th consecutive year, hundreds of donor family members will participate to honor the memory of their loved ones. More than 200 donor family teams will join 22 hospital teams and nearly 2,500 participants that include dozens of hospitals; organ, eye and tissue recipients; health and fitness enthusiasts; and corporate and community groups to celebrate the gift of life.

Since 2007, team Schreiber has gathered every last Saturday in April to honor the life and legacy of David Schreiber. David was 43 when, in 2005, he suddenly passed away from a massive stroke. He was a Long Beach native who believed in family and community. He left behind a wife, an 18-year-old daughter, a 3-day-old son, a brother, sister, niece and nephew. It was his wish in life to donate upon his death, and OneLegacy helped fulfill that wish for David when the time came. David donated his liver, tissue and corneas.

Sharon remembers her first Donate Life Run/Walk, “My son, Aaron, was a toddler when we participated in our first run/walk; and our daughter had just graduated high school. Alexandria as an adult never misses the chance to attend the run/walk to honor her father, and Aaron is now 14 and has not missed one yet! The Donate Life Run/Walk is a special event for us to remember David’s life and for Alex and Aaron to learn more about their dad’s story and the many lives David healed and saved through organ, eye and tissue donation.”

The Donate Life Virtual Run/Walk is produced by OneLegacy, the largest organ procurement organization in the U.S. dedicated to saving lives through organ, eye and tissue donation in seven Southern California counties.

“Donate Life Month is celebrated every year in April, and we are excited to expand our reach on our first Donate Life Virtual Run/Walk,” said Tom Mone, CEO of OneLegacy. “We look forward to inspiring those who join us on social media, whether they belong to the communities we serve or are joining us from cities across the U.S. and beyond, to register as donors and help save the lives of nearly 113,000 people across the country who are currently waiting for a lifesaving transplant.”

All proceeds from the Donate Life Virtual Run/Walk benefit the OneLegacy Foundation, with a goal to enhance OneLegacy’s public education efforts to inspire others to donate life and conduct research studies to improve the lives of recipients and optimize the organ, eye and tissue recovery process.

The 2020 sponsors for OneLegacy’s first Donate Life Virtual Run/Walk include ABC7, Albertsons, Vons, Pavillions, W.L. Butler, The Whole Enchilada, CareDx, Cedars-Sinai, Century 21, UC Irvine Health, Skechers, R. J. Noble, Tangent Systems, Greystone, CRCA (Consumer Reporting Compliance Associates) and Wescom.

For additional information and to register online to participate in this year’s Donate Life Virtual Run/Walk, visit DonateLifeRunWalk.org, like us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

To register to become an organ, eye and tissue donor, visit https://donatelifecalifornia.org/OneLegacy or http://doneVIDAcalifornia.org/OneLegacy.

About OneLegacy

OneLegacy is the nonprofit organization dedicated to saving lives through organ, eye and tissue donation in the seven-county greater Los Angeles area. With more than 200 hospitals, 10 transplant centers and a diverse population of 22 million, OneLegacy is the largest organ, eye and tissue recovery organization in the world.

For more information about OneLegacy, visit OneLegacy.org, like us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.

09 Nov

By
Ruy Laredo

in
Events News

November 9th Marks the Beginning of National Donor Sabbath

Beginning today November 9^th and thru November 11^th, Donate Life California invites you to join us in celebrating National Donor Sabbath! Every year, we celebrate National Donor Sabbath for persons of all faiths to honor donors who have saved lives through organ, eye and tissue donation.

Along with taking a moment to pause and honor all the donors who have saved lives, National Donor Sabbath also looks to spread the word about the importance and need of organ, eye and tissue donation across all faiths and congregations. With over 114,000 people waiting for a life-saving organ transplant, the need for new organ donors remains critically important.

National Donor Sabbath Encourages Education on Organ Donation

When it comes to registering as an organ and tissue donor, many mistakenly believe that their religion prevents them from being an organ and tissue donor. In fact, most religions support and even encourage organ donation.

Over the past five years, key religious figures such as Pope Francis and the Dalai Lama have vocally expressed how organ donation is one of “the greatest service(s) to mankind.” Many religions believe organ donation to be a final act of kindness and generosity. If you are interested in checking out the views of various religions on organ donation, please click here.

National Donor Sabbath encourages all faith leaders and followers to research his or her religious group’s tradition and position on organ and tissue donation and transplantation, as well any other ethical issues that may be of concern. In addition, each faith leader should be mindful of any new resolutions or positions adopted at his or her religious group’s national assembly. The group’s position is also subject to change at any moment.

How You Can Help This National Donor Sabbath

For all those attending religious congregations on this National Donor Sabbath weekend, we encourage you to strike up conversations about organ and tissue donation with your fellow parishioners. Additionally, discussing the matter with your leaders of faith may encourage them to bring up the topic of organ, eye and tissue donation during your service. And as always, we encourage you to share our message of saving lives through your own social media outlets. For additional information on National Sabbath, please click here.

Before we let you go, here are some quick facts on organ donation that you can share with members of your congregation:

Almost 35,000 patients began new lives in 2017 thanks to organ transplants (about 92 every day).
Nearly 22,000 people in California – over 114,000 people nationally – are currently waiting for an organ transplant.
Sadly, over of 20 people die every day while waiting, because the organ they needed is not donated in time.
A living donor can save a life by donating a kidney or a portion of their liver, lung, pancreas or intestine. For more information on living kidney donation, go to Living Donation California.
On average, there are more than 30,000 tissue donors and more than 1 million tissue transplants are performed each year; the surgical need for tissue has been steadily rising.
Approximately 40,000 patients have their sight restored through corneal transplants each year.

26 Oct

By
Ruy Laredo

in
Frequently Asked Questions

Everything You Need to Know About the Organ Donation Process

For many, the organ and tissue donation process may be one they are completely unfamiliar with, even if they are registered donors. Many misunderstandings and myths about how organs and tissue are recovered have been shared throughout social media and even been perpetrated on television for several decades. Today, we want to give you a quick rundown on how the process actually works.

Registering as a Donor

The first step is registering to be an organ and tissue donor! For decades, Donate Life California has worked with the California Department of Motor Vehicles to register donors throughout the state. Anyone can register as a donor at the DMV when they go in to apply for or renew a California Driver’s License or identification card.

On your license or ID application or renewal form, you will be asked if you would like to be registered as an organ or tissue donor. Simply check the box marked “YES! I want to be an organ, eye and tissue donor” and you will be put on the Donate Life California Donor Registry. Additionally, if you don’t find yourself at a DMV anytime soon and want to register as a donor at your own convenience, you can register on our website here.

You also have the ability to remove yourself from the registry at any point by contacting Donate Life California.

The Organ Donation Process

One of the most common myths out there regarding organ donation is that emergency medical personnel will not attempt to save your life if they see you are an organ and tissue donor. This is false. Whether someone is in a hospital or at the scene of an accident, every effort is made to save your life. Organ donation is not even discussed during these life-saving procedures. Medical professionals, such as doctors, have taken oaths to do no harm and that includes placing anything, including donation, above saving a patient’s life.

Only after all lifesaving procedures have been exhausted does the next step in the process take place – the referral of a potential donor. This only happens when an individual is declared brain dead by two different doctors unrelated to the transplant process. Alternatively, the referral process can also begin when the family of the deceased takes them off mechanical support. Only then do hospitals refer the patient to the local organ procurement organization (OPO) to begin a conversation about donation.

After a potential donor is referred, medical staff from the OPO begin to evaluate the deceased to determine if they are a suitable candidate for donation. Once this review is completed, the OPO staff will speak to the family if the deceased individual is eligible to be a donor.

Once the potential donor has been evaluated, the family is then notified if their loved one had registered to be an organ donor. If no decision had been made beforehand, the individual’s family then decides whether to move forward with the donation process or not. We always recommend sharing your decision on donation with your family so that they are aware of your wishes.

It is at this point, once consent is granted by the donor’s family or by the individual through the Donate Life California Registry, that the organ and tissue recovery can take place. The donor’s family is given a chance to say goodbye to their loved one and any additional testing would also occur at this step. When any organs and tissue are then recovered, the United Network for Organ Sharing finds a suitable match for someone on the organ and tissue transplant waiting list.

After the recovery procedure is finished, the OPO returns the body to the family. The donor’s family can then proceed with any funeral arrangement they had planned, be it open casket or cremation. Our OPOs will ensure that the organ and tissue recovery process will not interfere with your after-death plans.

We hope that this has been informative enough and cleared up any questions you may have had about the organ donation process! If you have any additional questions, please visit our website at www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org for additional information.