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Stories of Hope
Precious gifts of skin saved a father of four
After being burned over 60% of his body, to the bone in some places, only skin grafts — lots of them over months — saved Roy’s life. He lived with gratitude for 26 years after his accident.
“Because of that precious gift of skin, Dad was here to see my two brothers, my sister and I graduate from college, marry, and welcome eight grandchildren.” – Tim Schramm
Education, Multicultural Outreach
Learn about organ, eye and tissue donation | Driver Education
Meet a transplant recipient and a donor mom, and learn how the gifts of organ, eye and tissue donation have changed their lives!
Donation Process, Education
Sign up to Donate Life in Michigan | Driver Education
What does it mean when you’re invited to join the Michigan Organ Donor Registry as you get your driver’s license? Watch and find out!
Education
All of Us can save and heal lives!
Gift of Life’s award-winning “All of Us” educational program for young people is available free of charge for Michigan schools. Hear directly from a teacher and her students about the impact of this amazing program.
Donation Process, Education, Let's Talk: Livestreams
Lets Talk: First Person Authorization
Join Gift of Life’s Alison Gillum and Remonia Chapman to discuss what First Person Authorization is, how it affects the organ and tissue donation process, and why it’s important to talk to your family about your decision to donate!
Learn more and join the Michigan Organ Donor Registry today at golm.org/register.
Donation Process, Education, Let's Talk: Livestreams
Let’s Talk: Donor Family Care
Join Gift of Life Michigan’s Remonia Chapman, director of public education and community outreach, and David Moder, director of organ authorization, as they discuss the many ways that Gift of Life Michigan cares for donor families before, during and after their loved one’s gifts of organs or tissues.
Learn more and join the Michigan Organ Donor Registry today at golm.org/register.
Multicultural Outreach, Stories of Hope
Honoring Amaia
When his 7-year-old daughter was killed, John Edmond made the decision to honor Amaia’s life and generous spirit through organ donation. Amaia saved five lives that day, including Mike Lopez.
Multicultural Outreach, Stories of Hope
The gift of tissue donation for breast reconstruction
Tissue Donation For Breast Reconstruction
Multicultural Outreach, Stories of Hope
Saving Michael Love
Stories of Hope
It can happen to anyone: Rachel’s story
Multicultural Outreach, Stories of Hope
Organ donor saves high school athlete who then literally pays it forward
Tristan’s high school lacrosse career was put on hold when his kidneys failed. Thanks to a life-saving transplant he’s back in the game.
Join the Organ Donor Registry TODAY at golm.org/register
Sign up for our newsletter list at golm.org/newsletter
Let's Talk: Livestreams
Let’s Talk: August is National Minority Donor Awareness Month
Let's Talk: Livestreams
Let’s Talk: Community Building with Michigan Humane
Let's Talk: Livestreams
Let’s Talk: All of Us (Youth Outreach)
Let's Talk: Livestreams
Let’s Talk: Check Your Heart
Education, Stories of Hope
Jade’s Story
Baby Jade came into the world with all odds against her and left with a legacy that now defines her. She lived for just 55 minutes. In that short lifetime, Jade touched hundreds of people with her story and her gifts of life-saving heart valves and tissue for healing and research. Her mom and dad, Allison and Nick Townsend, learned at 26 weeks gestation that their first baby had an extra chromosome and would not survive long after her birth — if she made it that far.
Let's Talk: Livestreams
Let’s Talk: Donor Family Stories
Let's Talk: Livestreams
Let’s Talk: Living Kidney Donation
Let's Talk: Livestreams
Let’s Talk: What Makes Gift of Life Michigan a Great Place to Work?
Let's Talk: Livestreams
Self-care Series: the Power of Pets
Let's Talk: Livestreams
the blink: World Kidney Day
Let's Talk: Livestreams
Let’s Talk: What happens after I join the Donor Registry?
Multicultural Outreach, Stories of Hope
Lauren’s Heart
Jessica Koperski may be gone, but her heart is still beating and her legacy of generosity lives on.
Her mother, Marcia Toda, knows this for a fact. Jessica was only 35 when she died in an automobile accident in 2020 but, more than a year later, Toda heard her daughter’s heart beating, still strong, in the chest of 31-year-old Lauren Herrera.
The women met recently at the Gift of Life Michigan campus in Ann Arbor. “It was such an amazing thing, to hear her heart again,” said Toda, who traveled from Lakeview, OH, for the meeting.
“Lauren has been a bright spot in all of this.”
Read Lauren’s full story at golm.org/blog/i-never-knew-what-it-was-like-to-feel-normal
Multicultural Outreach, Stories of Hope
Pam Powell, 20+ years of new life
Meet Pam Powell, whose life was saved more than 20 years ago by a 12-year old boy she never met.
𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘔𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘯’𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘦? 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘊𝘌𝘖 𝘋𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦 𝘋𝘪𝘭𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 “𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪.”
It is thanks to the generosity of donors and donor families that Gift of Life Michigan has been able to facilitate gifts from nearly 10,000 organ donors and 25,000 tissue donors in our 50 years of honoring life through donation.
Donation Process, Education
50 Years of Honoring Life Through Donation
“Most of all, I’m hopeful that in the years to come no one dies in the United States waiting for an organ transplant, that every individual who needs one will get one.” – Dorrie Dils, CEO
Sign up today to Donate Life!
Donation Process
We’re Here to Honor Life Through Donation
Each potential organ or tissue donation takes a village.
First and foremost, the generosity of a donor and their family is what makes donation possible.
Facilitating these gifts also takes an amazing group of staff, volunteers and partners who believe strongly in honoring life through donation.
Join us at GOLM.org/careers.
Let's Talk: Livestreams
LET’S TALK: Innovations that save lives
Let's Talk: Livestreams
Self-Care: Nature Therapy
Education
Grief is Where Love Lived First: Part 4
Faith, Let's Talk: Livestreams, Multicultural Outreach
Be a Light to Those Who Are Waiting
Let's Talk: Livestreams
the blink: Dr. Collier
Education
Grief Is Where Love Lived First: Part 1
We all know someone who has experienced grief. Perhaps we have been on that journey ourselves. Join our conversation with Dr. Jennifer Matthews to better understand grief, recognize the signs of it, and learn how to better cope with it.
Let's Talk: Livestreams
All of Us: High School Outreach to Educate and Inspire
Let's Talk: Livestreams
Self-Care Series: Young Widows & Widowers
Let's Talk: Livestreams
the blink: Bill
Let's Talk: Livestreams
the blink: Mary Jo
Let's Talk: Livestreams
Self-Care Series: virtual support to reach your goals
Education
Grief Is Where Love Lived First: Part 2
Join us for the second part of an important conversation about recognizing and coping with grief. All of us have either experienced personal loss or know someone who has. How do we carry on? How do we help each other? Dr. Jennifer Matthews will share insights and tips with us.
Education
Grief is Where Love Lived First: Part 3 | Hearing and Healing Our Children
Do you know a child who is grieving? Do you want to help kids navigate their grief journeys? Join us for this very important conversation.
Education, Multicultural Outreach, Stories of Hope
Let’s Talk / Hablemos: Aimee Cruz, liver transplant recipient / receptora de trasplante de hígado
Aimee Cruz has received the gift of life three times through the generosity of strangers. As a liver transplant recipient, Aimee is on a mission to share her story and inspire others to consider giving the gift of life. #DonateLife #LetsTalk
~~~~~~~
Aimee Cruz ha recibido el regalo de la vida tres veces gracias a la generosidad de extraños. Como receptora de trasplante de hígado, Aimee tiene la misión de compartir su historia e inspirar a otros a considerar dar el regalo de la vida. #DoneVida #Hablemos
2021 Virtual Donate Life Day at the Zoo Program
Join us live from John Ball Zoo in Grand Rapids as we celebrate West Michigan organ and tissue donors, transplant recipients, and the donation and transplantation professionals who make it all happen.
Faith, Multicultural Outreach
The Greatest Charity You Can Perform – Imam Mohamed Almasmari
Can Muslims donate their organs? Is organ and tissue donation permissible in Islam?
Education
Your Decision to Donate
A video for teens about the importance of organ, tissue and eye donation.
Multicultural Outreach, Stories of Hope
Waiting to Live: Teresa’s Story
Teresa Harris lives in Detroit, and is waiting for her second chance at life – a life without the complications of dialysis. You can give hope to Teresa and other Michigan patients waiting for a life-saving transplant by joining the Michigan Organ Donor Registry today.
Multicultural Outreach, Stories of Hope
Chad and Mary: It’s a Love Story!
Chad Milton’s wife, Mary, died last May after a car crash near their Grand Rapids home. He knew she wanted to be an organ and tissue donor, but he didn’t trust the process. Gift of Life Michigan’s care team talked with Chad through every step and he was able to see her heart leave the hospital on its way to the transplant center. He captured the emotional moment on film.
We are grateful to Mary for saving four lives, and to Chad for sharing his experience in this video.
Education, Multicultural Outreach
Michael Love Wants Us to Stop Sharing Myths
In organ and tissue donation, myths can cost lives. Learn the facts from Michael Love, who has experienced two lung transplants.
Gift of Life Michigan | Let’s Talk 2019
The community spoke, we listened.
We launched Let’s Talk to reach out to multicultural communities, where people are more likely to need an organ transplant, yet less likely to sign up as organ donors, to address the shortage of organs for transplant, educate people about the need for organ donors, break down some of the common myths and misconceptions and encourage them to sign up on the organ donor registry.
Multicultural Outreach, Stories of Hope
Zahraa’s Story
Today we remember Zahraa Alasadi, a remarkable young lady who received a new heart one year ago, on Valentine’s Day.
Zahraa’s transplant experience motivated her to change career plans, to embrace daily every opportunity life gave her, and to inspire others to become organ, tissue and eye donors.
We invite you to join us in honoring Zahraa’s gift and her life by watching this video and sharing it with your friends and loved ones.
Donation Process, Education
Opportunities to Donate After Hospice Care
Gift of Life Michigan worked with Eversight Michigan to explain that hospice patients can be tissue and/or eye donors, despite misperceptions to the contrary.
Donation Process, Education, Multicultural Outreach
Terra DeFoe Dispels One of the Most Common Myths About Organ Donation
Donor mom Terra DeFoe has been there. She knows how the organ donation process works because her son, Emilio, was a donor. Terra tells it like it is, breaking down one of the most common myths about organ donation.
Make your decision to donate life at golm.org today!
Faith, Multicultural Outreach
A Matter of Faith
This video addresses a common question among many people: Does my religion support organ, tissue and eye donation?
Leaders of major faiths – Catholic, Baptist, Jewish, Muslim and more – answer the question with a resounding “yes.”
Gift of Life produced this video, “A Matter of Faith,” with the support of members of the InterFaith Leadership Council of Metropolitan Detroit.
Donation Process, Stories of Hope
Honor Walk for Detroit Firefighter Michael Lubig
Thank you to the family of Detroit Firefighter Michael Lubig for sharing his Honor Walk with the world. The generous spirit and love for others that he exhibited in life continue on through his gifts of organ, tissue and cornea donations.
#DonateLife
Share your love for others at golm.org
Other states: RegisterMe.org
Thank you to everyone at Henry Ford Health System for their continued support of donation.
Music by bensound.com
Donation Process, Education
Gift of Life Michigan: The Organ Donation Process
Gift of Life Michigan staff walk us through the organ donation process, from the hospital referral to laboratory testing to surgery and beyond.