The Community Spoke
And We Listened
It’s not uncommon for African Americans to be mistrusting of the health care system and skeptical of the organ and tissue donation process. We launched Let’s Talk to reach out to those communities, where people are more likely to need an organ transplant, yet less likely to sign up as donors. We talked with people in the community and encouraged them to share their stories, to break down misconceptions, to address myths and to encourage their neighbors, families and friends to sign up as donors.
In the U.S., there are more than 100,000 people waiting for a life-saving organ, and about 60 percent of them represent racial and ethnic minorities. In Michigan, it’s about 40 percent of the patients on the waiting list. This is a discussion that can save lives.
Community Conversations
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“We are so grateful for them. They didn’t have to donate. They chose to.”
When Cewanda Todd was 19-weeks pregnant, she was told her unborn daughter had a heart condition. “Our doctors told us that she wouldn’t make it,” Cewanda said. “We chose to continue the pregnancy anyway….
Kidney recipient and passionate advocate becomes tissue donor
Deacon Lawrence J. Bailey was a kidney transplant recipient, husband, father and a fervent advocate for organ and tissue donation. Thanks to his selfless decision to join the Michigan Organ Donor Registry, he helped save…
Police officer’s life saved by a colleague
Steven Dye seemed perfectly healthy with no symptoms before he was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease. “I had gone to visit my doctor for my annual physical,” said the Ann Arbor native. “Not sure how…
Volunteer Spotlight: Two-time lung recipient gives hope to those waiting for a miracle of their own
When Michael Love woke up groggy from his lung transplant surgery in 2015, he instinctively felt his nose for the cannula that had delivered life-sustaining oxygen for the previous six months. It wasn’t there. “I…
Transplant Throwback: Chef Oliver Hale Organ Donation Journey
Name: Chef Oliver Hale (Chef O) Age: 71 Home: Kentwood, Michigan Transplant: Kidney, twice Why did you need a transplant, and when did it happen? I received my first kidney transplant in 1985 after…
Small steps to a big milestone
As an Army sergeant and medic, Lisa Haney was trained to save lives. Then her own life was saved during the military discharge process in 2017. After serving nine years, she submitted her paperwork and…
Mallaki receives the gift of life and a new family
Ben and Karen Hayes knew no one could care for the foster boy like they could A 7-year-old boy in the foster care system was recovering from a life-saving liver transplant when two strangers walked…
Staff Spotlight: As a donation educator, Taneisha Carswell knows when to talk and when to listen
A brotherhood is born out of death, life and gratitude
John Edmond barely gave it a thought as a woman from Gift of Life Michigan entered his young daughter’s room in the pediatric Intensive Care Unit. He knew his 7-year-old would not survive her accidental…
Tissue Donation for Breast Cancer Survior
“I can look in the mirror every day and not be reminded of the hell I went through.” Curpri Sanders experienced the happiest time in her life and the saddest in the same month. As…
Let’s Have this Conversation Together
We invite you to join us in a virtual experience to elevate the conversation about the benefits of these lifesaving gifts. Talk to your families. Your friends. Your social networks.
We need each other.
A single organ donor can save as many as eight lives. A tissue donor can help heal up to 75 others.
