“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.

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!