DONATE LIFE ORGAN DONATION AWARENESS - MICHIGAN

Group gathers to remember Michigan's organ donors

Ceremony honors those who gave the gift of life

Kathleen Lavey | LSJ.com

Barbara and David Gerber of Trenton lost their 27-year-old daughter, Jenni, in May 1998 after she was struck by a car while crossing a street.

But Jenni's giving spirit lives on 12 years later.

Her heart, liver, kidneys and corneas all went to other people through organ donation.

And Barbara Gerber made organ donation a personal cause, establishing the Michigan DonorFamily Council and working to make sure donors are remembered.

She spoke Wednesday at a small gathering under a shady tree on the southeast corner of the Capitol grounds, where a wreath was laid at a memorial stone in honor of Michigan's organ donors. The plaque and stone, first put in place in 1992, were refurbished in 2004.

"Families of donors are bonded in sadness and loss, but also held together by a sense of giving," said Anne Kowalczyk, chief administrative officer for Gift of Life Michigan. It coordinates organ and tissues donations in the state.

Nearly 900 people received organ donations in Michigan last year, she said, and thousands of others received tissue and cornea transplants.

Also present at Wednesday's brief service was Joan Smith, who retired earlier this year as director of the Hope Borbas Okemos branch of the Capital Area District Library because of health issues. Although she had no genetic or lifestyle factors that would indicate a risk for liver disease, Smith, 67, now is on the waiting list for a liver transplant.

She also is coordinating a new mid-Michigan support group.

"Anyone is welcome who is on a list or has had a transplant," she said.

LEARN MORE

• About the Michigan Donor Family Council at www.michigandonor familycouncil.org.
• About donating organs at www.giftoflifemichigan.org, www.michigan.gov/sos, or by calling (800) 482-4881.
Support group
• A new support group for those who have received organ transplants or are on a waiting list begins next month. The first meeting is at 7 p.m. Oct. 14 at People's Church in East Lansing.