After being on display for two months at Whitmore Library in Sandy, Utah, two panels of the Intermountain Donor Services Donor Quilt are now at the Magna Library at 8330 West 3500 South. The quilt is dedicated to the memory of all those who have given the gift of life through organ, eye, or tissue donation.

Since its beginning in 1997, families have been invited to honor their loved one by creating a quilt square in their memory. Each square of the quilt represents a life and tells a story,  made with love and special details such as a photograph, quote, or symbol of their loved one’s life. Every spring, new squares are added and the quilt is displayed at the annual Donor Recognition Ceremony. As of May 2010, there are seven panels and more than 350 squares. The quilt is a work in progress, and will continue to be a legacy of the lives lived and lives blessed by the donors.

Many thanks to Susan, Scott, Tracy, Jamie, and Trish at Salt Lake County Library Services for their support in the display of the quilt and distribution of mousepads, posters, and table cards that you can see at your favorite Salt Lake County Library! Next stop for the quilt will be at Columbus Library this fall!

Yesterday, KSL and the Salt Lake Tribune reported on the fifteenth anniversary of the Kurt Oscarson Children’s Organ Transplant Fund.  This fund was created in response to the challenges two Utah families faced when their children needed liver transplants.  Both families were struggling to raise enough money to cover the transplants.  A fifth grade class at Crescent Elementary in Sandy decided to help.  They contacted State Representative, Kurt Oscarson and ultimately this fund was created.

At a press conference, both of the mothers involved spoke about what it was like to face the challenges of a very sick child and lack of finances.  At the time, pediatric liver transplants were not done in Utah, so they both needed to travel to Wisconsin.  Their children, now adults, then spoke.

Talysa was only ten months old when she received her liver transplant and she says she feels lucky that she doesn’t remember the transplant or how sick she became.  She has met others who remember how hard and scary it is to need a transplant.  It has been 20 years since her transplant and she is doing great.  She expressed gratitude to her family, neighbors and everyone who makes this fund work.

Caleb was four years old when he had his transplant, but says he doesn’t remember much more about it than Talysa remembers about her transplant.  He is now a healthy 23 year old.  His gratitude was evident as he stated, “I’m grateful to the people who were selfless enough to allow themselves to become donors to give someone else a second chance and I wish to express my gratitude to everyone who has made that choice on their driver license.”   

Donations to the Kurt Oscarson Children’s Organ Transplant Fund can be made on your Utah State Tax Return.  Register as a donor at www.yesutah.org.

“Cry Me a River!” This was my picture message to my kids last week when Michael Buble started off his concert with this song at the E Center! IDS is participating with the E Center in West Valley this month, and we have had a table and display at several concerts and Grizzlies games to spread the word about organ donation. It was really fun to meet our volunteers Kristin and her daughter, Kassidy, and to trade off manning the table and slipping in to see Michael in concert!

Kristin is a liver recipient, 8 years out, and I loved getting to hear her story, and realize what the gift of life has given her and her family. Kassidy was only 8 years old at the time of her mom’s transplant, and she and her 3 older brothers would have had very different lives indeed without the donor who has made these past 8 years possible. It was so special to me to watch mom and daughter get excited about the concert, try to decide which t-shirt to buy, and just to see them together. When it came time for them to go, I didn’t cry myself a river, but I teared up looking at the two of them, grateful that they have this precious borrowed time that might not have been. A few minutes later, just as we were starting to take down the display, a sweet, older woman came by and asked if we had “anything for donations”. We showed her a brochure, but she said, no, she just wanted to give us a dollar to help someone. Her simple generosity has played on my mind over and over again. In a world where people have so many reasons to “cry me a river” it’s rewarding to be a part of the miracles, large and small, in the donation community.

Are you creative? Do you like making videos?  Then you might be just who we are looking for!

April is National Donate Life Month and we need your help publicizing the need for organ, eye, and tissue donation. Almost 400 people in Utah, and 106,000 nationwide, are waiting for a life-saving transplant.

We are looking for fun, creative, factual videos about donation to help publicize the need for more registered organ donors and we decided to have a CONTEST! We are looking for videos that: 

• Are two minutes long, or less
• Include factual information about donation/transplantation
• Have a message encouraging people to be donors
• Direct people to www.yesutah.org and www.yesidaho.org to register as an organ, eye, and tissue donor

Check out our example video, “Knock out the Myths,” but we want you to use your own creativity.  Come up with something that wows us and blows away the competition!

 To be considered, videos must be submitted to info@yesutah.org in avi or wmv format by Thursday, April 1, 8:00 a.m., MST.  Complete details can be found at on the Yes! Utah website. 

The video that receives the most views during the month of April wins a cash prize of $150, the second most views $100, and third place, $50. 

Facts about organ, eye, and tissue donation can be found at www.yesutah.org. You may enter more than one video, but only one prize per person will be awarded.  

Help us celebrate National Donate Life Month and make a difference!   

Pass this information on to your friends.  You do not need to be a Utah resident to enter.

“I’ve worked on Rose Parade floats for many years, but this is the first time I have had the opportunity to work on the Donate Life Float,” a man told me as he allowed me to hold a floragraph in place while he attached it to the float.  “This float is just incredible.  It has such meaning; I’ve never felt this with any other float.”

The feelings are strong in the Rosemont Pavilion where the Donate Life Float is stored while it is being decorated and prepped for the parade.  The Utah families, the Bryants, the Balls and the Newbolds, were given the opportunity to share their story on the Channel 7 news in California.  They placed a dedicated rose (captured on film by Scott Weersing and published in the Salt Lake Tribune) in honor of Caroline, who saved the lives of seven people after her own death, prepared flowers for placement on the float and exchanged stories with the many other families who traveled to Pasadena to honor a loved one or the donor who changed their lives. 

New Year’s morning found most of us sitting in the grandstands, waiting for the parade to begin.  Missing from the grandstand crowd were Tyla and Carter.  Tyla, Caroline’s liver recipient; and Carter, Caroline’s son, had the unique opportunity to ride the Donate Life Float.  They sat side by side, directly below the floragraph of Caroline.  Carter held a picture of his mother as they waved at the crowd.  In the grandstands, we received calls from friends and family still in Utah who were watching the parade on television.  They actually saw the float before it made it to where we were sitting.  Excitement filled the stands as the float slowly passed in front of our grandstands

The experience was summed up by a young mother I had the pleasure of meeting.  Her 6 year old son passed away unexpectedly and they made the decision to donate his organs.  “The atmosphere here has been great.  It is not a pity party even though we all have similar feelings of loss and pain.  It is a celebration of life, both for our loved ones who have passed on and those who are alive because of donation.”

Wow.  The last few days have been full of excitement!

We have the opportunity this year to honor Caroline Bryant on the Donate Life Float at the Rose Parade.  Caroline was about eight months pregnant in 1997, when she was involved in a tragic car accident.  Although medical staff were not able to save Caroline’s life, they were able to deliver her son, who is now a healthy 12 year old.  Caroline, who had previously discussed organ donation with her husband, became an organ donor.  Caroline will be honored in the form of a floragraph onthe Donate Life Float.  Her son Carter, and her liver recipient, Tyla, will  be riding on the float.

The floragraph, a word I think was created to describe the pictures of donors created with natural ingredients, is the major focal point of the float.  The decorating of Caroline’s floragraph began in California by the grammy winning R&B group, All-4-One.  They then brought the floragraph to Utah to give Caroline’s family a chance to complete the decorating.

The family gathered at Shriner’s Hospital for Children to listen as All-4-One sang to the patients and their families and then they were presented with the floragraph.  Caroline’s parents, Carter, and Tyla then completed the floragraph as several people watched and snapped pictures.  The family will also be going to California to participate in the Rose Parade.  There was a great article in the Deseret News and an equally great segment on Studio 5.

I had the wonderful opportunity to host our quarterly Volunteer Training Dinner a few weeks ago.  What a fantastic evening!  I truly enjoyed meeting several new volunteers and visiting with a few IDS “veterans”.  We had folks attend from all over the valley to learn about how to best communicate our message of the importance of donation.  We were even blessed with five visitors from Logan– I felt special!  We talked about what IDS is doing in the social marketing arena (Facebook, Twitter, etc. ) and went over several details relating to organ and tissue donation.

However, it wasn’t just the volunteers that were educated that night!  I even learned a thing or two, such as what is an appropriate beverage to serve to transplant recipients!   After several volunteers arrived, I excitedly told them I had brought my new favorite holiday drink to share with them, Pomegranate 7-UP.  Imagine my chagrin when several of them kindly told me that they can’t eat or drink pomegranate!  It interferes with their anti-rejection meds, as does grapefruit and a few other foods.  They were very lovely about it but it was a bit of a “Doh!” moment for me.  So, to any of you planning your holiday party menus, keep in mind the special dietary requirements of your transplant recipient friends!

If you are interested in volunteering with us, you don’t have to wait for our quarterly training to get started!  Click on the “Volunteers” tab on our homepage at www.yesutah.org and we’ll get you going!

I hung out at the St. George Marathon on October 3.  I didn’t run; I cheered for Cory Reese and the other eight members of Team Run Life who were among the 5,618 people who completed the entire 26.2 miles.  Cory ran for an entire 4 hours and 25 minutes, enduring cramped legs and great pain, and he claims to be excited for his next marathon!!

I was one of the D.O.M.E. virtual marathoners who did my own virtual 26.2.  Unlike Cory, I did not experience leg cramps or great pain, but I still contributed to a great cause; told others about the importance of organ donation, and I even appeared on our training page (please note, no one was required to sweat during training). 

Cheering for Cory and Team Run Life was harder than you might think.  Did you know that people who have just run 26 miles all look about the same and I had only met most of the team members once.  Then I heard the woman next to me yell, “There’s Cory.  Come on, Cory.  Keep it up.”

Out of over 5,600 people, could there be more than one Cory running this marathon?  I looked and sure enough it was Cory Reese.  I grabbed my daughter’s camera and snapped a picture while cheering him on.  I asked the woman if she knew anyone else on Team Run Life.  She knew Shane and Karrie and promised to cheer loudly as they came in.  Thanks to a cheering stranger, I was able to get pictures of Shane and Karrie also. 

Now I can kick back and listen to my “Road of Hope” CD while I gear up for my next virtual race!