Newsletters
June 2008 eNews
A New Day... A New Way
Donate Life Northwest is excited to bring you our monthly newsletter in a handsome, more professional, consistent format. We hope you'll be enticed to open and click through its interesting and informative contents when it arrives the first week of each month. As always, we look forward to hearing from you and welcome your comments and questions.
"D" Signals Donor Designation and Means It!
Now there are 3 equally powerful and meaningful ways to register as a donor in Oregon:
- Ask the DMV to put a "D" on your driver's license, permit or ID; beginning 1/1/08, anyone over age 15 may put a "D" code on their license/permit.
- Signup online at donatelifenw.org
- Sign up on paper - call 1-800-452-1369
What is the difference? The "D" code is considered "global" donation, i.e. permission to recover all organs, eyes and tissues deemed suitable for transplant. The online registry and paper form allow an individual to specify what they wish to donate and are more easily updated than a driver's license. It also offers those who have no license a way to join the donor registry.
Two facts to know:
- Until an individual is 18 years old, family/legal guardian consent for donation will be required should that individual become a potential donor.
- Recovery agencies will continue to evaluate each case individually and to work with families in a thorough and compassionate manner. A family member still will be asked to provide a medical/social history of the potential donor and to sign a disclosure form.
Donate Life Month Makes History - Again!
Last year's April launch of the online donor registry accomplished a donation milestone in Oregon. Topping that in potential impact is this year's great news that puts the power of decision about organ, eye and tissue donation where most Oregonians already think it is - with the donor. Oregon is joining Washington as well as many other states in accepting a donor designation on a driver's license as consent for donation.
Donate Life Northwest's unveilings of the 10th Threads of Life quilt in Vancouver, Portland, Bend, Eugene and Medford drew public and media attention not only to the beautiful new quilt panel but to the exciting change.
Additional Donate Life Month activities included outreach efforts through 53 high school presentations, 11 donor designation stations at blood drives, churches, and hospitals, and 12 general awareness events at civic clubs, conferences and businesses.
Volunteer appreciation and education events in Eugene, Medford and Bend where a prototype kiosk for donor paper forms also was unveiled, as well as distribution of Spring and Mother's Day greeting cards kept Donate Life Northwest staff and volunteers almost too busy to notice that April's showers had ushered in the stunning display of Pacific Northwest's May flowers.
The 10th Threads of Life quilt is now available to join the previous nine quilts to travel and be displayed. Please call Donate Life Northwest at 1.800.452.1369 to reserve a quilt.
Donate Life Northwest raffle tickets are now available and we are in need of ticket sellers. With the help of volunteers like you, we hope to raise $15,000 by selling 750 raffle tickets for $20.00 a piece. The volunteer or contributor to sell the most raffle tickets will receive a small basket of goodies and be taken out to lunch with Mary Jane Hunt, Executive Director of Donate Life Northwest.
The raffle drawing will take place August 12, 2008 at 7:00 PM at the Reserve Golf Club in Aloha, Oregon. Individuals need not be present to win one of the following five great prizes:
- Grand Prize: Roundtrip airfare for 2 on Alaska Airlines Retail value: $1,000 (some restrictions apply)
- 2nd Prize: Chinook Winds Getaway: Enjoy an overnight stay, with two show tickets and two wonderful dinners (Value: $400)
- 3rd Prize: Metolius River Getaway: Enjoy a weekend stay (Oct 3-4) in a beautiful cabin on the banks of the Metolius River in Central Oregon (Value: $470)
- 4th Prize: Wine Tasting Tour and private tasting at Willamette Valley Vineyards (Value: $150)
- 5th Prize: Handcrafted Jewelry Set by Jessica Vasi: Designed especially for Donate Life Northwest (Value: $300)
We are distributing raffle tickets to ticket sellers in bundles of twenty, ten, or five. Ticket sellers will present the ticket stub to ticket buyers and submit all payments and completed tickets to Donate Life Northwest prior to the drawing. All proceeds benefit Donate Life Northwest.
For more information on purchasing or selling raffle tickets, contact Susan at chrzanow@ohsu.edu or 503.494.7888. We hope to hear from you soon!
Save the Date
Bovine and Wine: August 2, 2008 at Bethany Vineyards in Ridgefield, WA. The Bovine and Wine Benefit Dinner was established by a local liver recipient to raise funds for Donate Life Northwest's lifesaving programs.
15th Annual Golf Tournament: August 12, 2008 at Reserve Vineyards & Golf Club in Aloha. First-ever "double-flight," utilizing both 18-hole courses at the reserve.
Lifesavers Breakfast: October 23, 2008 at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland. Donate Life Northwest's largest fundraiser; this year's program will feature Annamarie Ausnes and her living kidney donor, Starbucks barista Sandie Andersen.
Donate Life Northwest has a seventeen member Board of Directors that is legally and ethically responsible for all activities of the organization. This section of eNEWS will provide a look at these outstanding volunteers and their role as board members.
May Profile: Jon Levine, Chairman
Jon is a Financial Advisor with UBS Financial Services. His focus is on financial planning and wealth management for families, business owners and institutions.
Jon and wife Sheila have been married for seven years and are raising daughters Charlotte (5) and Erin (3). As Charlotte enters Kindergarten and Erin explores nursery school, the Levine's expect the coming year to be both busy and exciting.
Roy Abramowitz, former board member and professional acquaintance, recruited Jon to the board in 2003. While Jon does not have a direct connection to donation, he is civically oriented and believes in volunteerism. He is proud of the new relationships he has formed with the volunteers for Donate Life Northwest.
Most importantly, Jon knows that by educating individuals on the benefits of donation, we are able to save and improve lives as informed people who choose to be organ, eye and tissue donors when presented the opportunity to do so.
Summer Volunteer Opportunities...
Welcome to our new volunteer opportunities section!! Please take a look at the upcoming opportunities by clicking on the link below. Let Sara know if you are interested in volunteering. While summer months may be slower, we have open events that still need volunteers: the Hillsboro Rotary Club 4th of July Parade, the 15th annual Golf Tournament, Eugene/Springfield Pride Festival… just to name a few. Check them out!
Education Outreach Volunteer: Program Evaluation Assistant
Because of the recent changes surrounding donor designation in the state of Oregon, it is even more important for students to become educated about donation before they make their first trip the DMV. We plan to continue expanding our very popular Education Outreach program in size and quality in the years to come and look forward to watching it grow. To do this, we need your help!
An important part of improving our Education Outreach program is getting feedback from students and teachers. We do this through giving surveys to every student and teacher who attends one of our school presentations. Because we speak to so many students each year (over 8,000!), we need some assistance with processing their feedback.
With the help of the Program Evaluation Assistant, we will be able to consistently provide feedback to our speakers, follow up with interested students, and ensure the quality of our overall program. Details of volunteer job description are below. If you have questions or are interested in the position, please contact Kelly O'Rourke, Education Outreach Coordinator: (503) 418-4035, orourkek@ohsu.edu.
Title: Program Evaluation Assistant
Time commitment: September-May, approximately 5 hours per month (but may vary)
Location: Program Evaluation Assistant can work from our office (workstation is provided) or from home
Duties:
- Insert student and teacher survey data into Excel document (monthly during slow times, every 2 weeks during busy times)
- Flag time sensitive comments for Education Outreach Coordinator
- Sort speaker feedback by speaker and put into Word document
- Compare survey packets to event list and make follow up calls to teachers for missing packets
- Additional program evaluation duties can be assigned if volunteer is interested in more hours
Qualifications:
- Must live in Portland area or be able to commute to Donate Life Northwest office twice a month (at most)
- Must have a basic comfort level with Excel, Word and the internet
One final call for MUSICIANS…
Do you play a musical instrument? Do you sing? Are you interested in playing in a band? We're looking for you! We have a few volunteers that would be interested in starting a Donate Life Northwest band, but as of yet we just have two drummers - we need a little more variety. We're not saying the music must be donation/ transplantation related, but we might ask you to play at our annual Volunteer Appreciation dinner! If you are interested, please let me (Sara) know so that I can connect you with other interested parties – lewissa@ohsu.edu / 503.494.3525
Donate Life Northwest is proud to announce Ruth Prier and Loyce Martinazzi as our May Stars of the Month. We are honoring Ruth and Loyce for their dedication and consistent work year round as office volunteers. Every Thursday these committed volunteers pack and mail materials that are distributed to schools, businesses, civic organizations and churches throughout Oregon and Southwest Washington to promote Donate Life Northwest's lifesaving educational programs.
Together Ruth and Loyce have donated over 250 hours of their time in the past year to help carry out Donate Life Northwest's mission and lifesaving message. They give selflessly and make a significant contribution toward our vision to ensure everyone waiting for an organ, eye or tissue transplant receives one. We wish to recognize Ruth and Loyce for their efforts, as they are critical to the growth and success of Donate Life Northwest. Thank you Ruth and Loyce for all that you do!
Monthly E-News
March 2008
February 2008
December 2007