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Malinda Herrera becomes a living donor to offer hope Malinda Herrera has been a passionate advocate of organ and tissue donation for years as a nurse on the Neuro Intensive Care Unit at Sparrow Hospital….

I’m here because 32 years ago I received a life-changing gift. Sight is an easy thing to take for granted and, like so much in life, you don’t realize how much you rely on it…

I was familiar with Gift of Life and its life-saving mission, but why was she calling me? My dad was 86, with multiple health issues. His heart and lungs had failed him. His skin was old and thin. What could he possibly donate? “One of my colleagues is still researching your dad’s medical history,” Jacy said, “but he may be able to donate bone.” What Jacy needed to know from me now was pressing: Were we willing?

Gift of Life Michigan celebrates the passage of a law that prevents health insurers from denying or limiting coverage for living organ donors in this state. The law specifically prohibits insurers from denying or limiting life, health or long-term care insurance because someone decides to be a living donor.

Tickets available for the popular April Gala Gift of Life Michigan will soon announce the names of about 20 donation champion award winners which will include Hospital of the Year, Legacy and Honoring Life through…

Sherry Johnson shares her experiences as a heart transplant patient who waits again Sherry Johnson was so exhausted she couldn’t walk her two little boys to the bus stop. Brushing her teeth wiped her out….

“This isn’t just a job or career for me,” Taniesha Carswell said. “It’s a passion. There’s no other job I could love this much, knowing that every day we’re saving lives through education, getting people to put that heart on their ID.”

Not much will stop this volunteer from telling his story Chris Kowalski won’t let much get in the way of telling people about organ donation. Not even Detroit Tigers superstar Miguel Cabrera. Chris talked to…

I had my heart transplant in April 1997, after years of serious health complications caused by a heart attack and cardiac arrest in 1989. Since my transplant, I have enjoyed an overall healthy life. At my last check-up at the heart transplant clinic, my doctor gave me an A-.

The new Check Your Heart law will place the organ and tissue donation question on Michigan income tax forms for the 2023 tax year and beyond. Michigan is the first state to offer the opportunity to register to be a donor this way.

Understanding religious perspectives on organ and tissue donation One of the misconceptions or barriers that repeatedly arise in conversations about organ and tissue donation is whether it’s permitted based on the beliefs of one’s faith. To address this, Gift of Life Michigan created “A Matter of Faith,” a video that discusses the important role of faith in the realm of donation. Its production was supported by members of the InterFaith Leadership Council of Metropolitan Detroit.

Organs and transplant teams are probably on board Ever wonder what that passing SUV covered in organ and tissue transplant branding is all about? You probably ask yourself, who or what is inside? Where is…

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…

Unprecedented 500 donors save lives so far in 2023 Michigan’s organ and tissue donation program has broken another record by reaching the 500 organ donors mark in a single year with more than a month…

Gift of Life Michigan celebrates the passage of a law that prevents health insurers from denying or limiting coverage for living organ donors in this state. Sen. Kevin Hertel sponsored the measure (SB 384), which…

A new bill introduced in October in the Michigan House would require education about organ, eye and tissue donation for 9th graders in public schools statewide. Twenty-four states, including neighboring Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana, require it. Michigan does not. As a result, double the percentage of young people register as organ donors in those states when they get their first driver’s license.

“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…

In this series we are looking back with transplant recipients and learning how they are making the most of their second chance at life. In this issue we talk with Guadalupe Alejos, who received a kidney transplant from his brother 50 years ago!

Life was “exceedingly rich” for Rachel Kuntzsch when it nearly slipped into darkness forever. She was happy, 44 and her Lansing consulting firm was thriving. Rachel was a strong, vibrant mom, friend, daughter and wife….

Michigan residents who haven’t yet added their names to the Michigan Organ Donor Registry will have a new and easy way to do so in 2024. Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed the Check Your Heart Act…

One of Gift of Life Michigan’s smallest donors – baby Jade Townsend, who lived for just 55 minutes in 2021 – saved the life of another infant this spring. But perhaps her most compelling and lasting legacy is an important protocol change. That’s because Gift of Life Michigan – on behalf of Jade and her parents – asked LeMaitre Vascular in Massachusetts to consider taking Jade’s valve despite her birth weight of just 3 pounds, 7 ounces.

Gift of Life Michigan's "Check Your Heart" campaign is using data and telling the stories of donors, their families and organ and tissue recipients whose lives are changed by their gifts.

The celebration of excellence will expand in 2024 to allow for greater sponsorship and partnership opportunities and higher attendance with individual tickets available for sale for the first time.

There’s a buzz in the air when Gift of Life Michigan educators arrive at a school with their red trunk of supplies and plasticized real human organs used to teach about donation and transplant. The All of Us education program is a real draw. “Everybody hears that we’re there,” said Alison Gillum, senior community relations coordinator at Gift of Life. Curious teachers pop in for a look. Students chatter about it in the halls. “When we leave, the people in the office tell us, ‘We’ve been hearing about you guys all day.’”

One of the greatest myths related to organ and tissue donation is that there’s a strict age limit and that older people couldn’t possibly save the lives of others. That couldn’t be farther from the…

Debora Dearring lived at Henry Ford Hospital for nine months, seven of them waiting and praying for a double lung transplant that would save her life. The days and months were long and she was…

Gift of Life Michigan has worked for years to find new ways to increase the use of donor organs for transplantation. One five-year study, in particular, revealed such dramatic and significant findings that Michigan’s organ…

“I love taking care of people,” Cindy Zarate said. “When I was 7, my aunt walked into my grandma’s house wearing a white nurse’s hat, white shoes and uniform. She looked just like an angel and that’s when I knew I wanted to be a nurse.”

Gift of Life’s largest West Michigan outreach event returned this week to the popular John Ball Zoo in Grand Rapids with a new twist. This year, more than one thousand Donate Life Night at the…

Transplant recipients tell their stories to 100 visitors at Gift of Life Michigan Community Open House Both Rachel Kuntzsch and Tristan Johnson were healthy and active when their doctors delivered unimaginable diagnoses of life-threatening illnesses….

August is National Minority Donor Awareness Month, designated to heighten awareness about organ and tissue donation in multicultural communities. Originally observed in a single week in 1996, this awareness month is a collaborative effort by…

Gift of Life MOTTEP hosted its 26th annual LIFEWalk/Run event on July 22 on Belle Isle in Detroit. The event included a 5K walk and run, and a 10K run. The theme for the event…

Check Your Heart Act is the first of its kind in the nation. Groundbreaking legislation to bolster the Michigan Organ Donor Registry became law on Tuesday with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s signature on the Check Your…

Check Your Heart Act would be first of its kind in the nation More than 400 people in Michigan’s organ and tissue donation and transplant converged on the lawn of the Michigan Capitol in Lansing…

The Association for Organ Procurement Organizations (AOPO) has named Gift of Life Michigan President and CEO Dorrie Dils as its president-elect. The Saline resident will serve in the national role for one year before becoming…

Check Your Heart Act would be first of its kind in the nation As many as 400 people in Michigan’s organ and tissue donation and transplant community will converge on the lawn of the Michigan…

Organ and tissue donors help hundreds in May   Gift of Life Michigan helped a record 63 people become organ donors and 177 gave the gift of tissue in May, saving and healing hundreds of critically…

Key legislation that would allow state income tax filers to add their names to the Michigan Organ Donor Registry is one step closer to reality. The Check Your Heart Act passed the House today. It…

NEW SENATE BILL WOULD INCREASE AWARENESS, PROVIDE EDUCATION ON ORGAN AND TISSUE DONATION   Updated April 26, 2023 This week, Sen. Kevin Daley (R-Lapeer) introduced Senate Bill 287, which mirrors House Bill 4060 introduced by State…

In this series we are looking back with transplant recipients and learning how they are making the most of their second chance at life. In this issue we talk with Carol Cerny about the difference her lung donor made.

Pamela and Krishna Sawhney fervently believe educating youth about organ and tissue donation will change the minds and hearts of generations of skeptics — and save the lives of patients waiting for transplants.  The Bloomfield Hills couple has pledged $125,000 over five years to the All of Us program, Gift of Life Michigan’s unique hands-on learning experience for high schoolers.  Their gift is — by far — the largest in the organization’s 51-year history. 

Donation success in Michigan mirrors the national trend in saving and healing lives. Gift of Life Michigan helped a record 463 people become organ donors and 1,821 give the gift of tissue last year, saving hundreds of lives and healing tens of thousands more. The 2022 figures represent a significant 14% increase in tissue donors over the previous record in 2019 and an 8% increase in organ donors over 2021.  The records came as we hired more staff, spent more time on-site with potential donors and their families, and expanded our efforts to grow the Michigan Organ Donor Registry. 

Moms and babies are helping heal painful open wounds with generous gifts of “miracle tissue”  Little Coleton Voss has no idea how many people he’s already helped in his young life. But with the gift…

Do you have a heart on your license or state ID?  Philip Perry and about 2,400 other patients in Michigan are so sick that they’re counting on donors and their families to save their lives.  Philip Perry is waiting for a heart transplant. The 40-year-old Monroe man is among more than 100 people in the state who need a new heart and he knows the odds aren’t in his favor.  “I’m trying not to think about the things that people in my situation seem to think about a lot,” he said. “When I find myself falling down, I just try to get back up and don’t go that far down again.”  Gift of Life Michigan is in the midst of the Check Your Heart campaign, a statewide marketing effort to grow the Michigan Organ Donor Registry and offer more hope to Philip and others like him. 

Remonia Chapman is committed to community, relationships and finding new ways to advance the Donor Registry  Relationships are fueling a significant partnership initiative with some of the state’s largest businesses and organizations. Remonia Chapman and her colleagues are asking them to share the donor registration link with employees along with the message that donation saves and transforms lives.  Remonia, Gift of Life’s director of public education and community relations, explains how workplace partnerships work, why this initiative is so critical right now, and how your workplace can help save lives. 

Check Your Heart Act would add donation question to income tax form  Patrick Wells-O’Brien spends a lot of time generating innovative ideas about how to add thousands of names to the state’s Organ Donor Registry….

“Every time we place an organ for research, there is a chance that we make a breakthrough or accomplish something never done before,” Nick Olden said. “To be a part of that, and to help make that happen, is incredibly important.” 

Unique partnership has the potential to improve millions of lives  The families of donors in Michigan are saying yes to research that could lead to breakthroughs in crippling diseases of the brain.  In fact, 170…

Organ donor saves star high school athlete who then literally pays it forward to help donation programs  A young donor saved two things most important to Tristan Johnson: His life and his ability to play…

Gift of Life is grateful to leaders in our community who champion our mission of honoring life through donation. Later this month the organization will present Gift of Life Champion Awards to 21 people or…