Westminster College Student Leads Organ Donor Drive
Fabian Castillo is the 2009-2010 Service Chair for the Associated Students of Westminster College (ASWC) in Salt Lake City. He spearheaded the campus-wide drive at Westminster to generate organ donors for the Donate Life Utah 2009 campaign.
As part of the school’s efforts, Castillo organized a Frisbee Kick-Off Party to generate awareness about the campaign and the critical need for organ donors. A sign-up table was manned for a week in the student union building at the school where AWSC volunteers handed out information and collected donor registration forms. Student volunteers were also present at sporting events to hand-out registration forms.
As a wrap-up to the campaign, Westminster students were encouraged to show up and sign up at Last Saturday’s Donate Like Utah 9K Race and .9K Walk at Liberty Park. The race was an opportunity for donor registrants to break a Guinness Book World Record for the most people to sign up as donors in one 8 hour period.
As Service Chair, Castillo is called upon throughout the year to organize various campus activities. Although he has no personal connection to organ donation, the campaign has been especially important to him. “I think it’s a great opportunity for all of us to become aware. Other causes are not as close to home and this campaign helps us to understand that little actions can make a huge difference,” he says.
on October 26, 2009 on 11:40 am
Your story about Donate Life Utah 2009 highlighted the tragic shortage of human organs for transplant operations.
Over half of the 100,000 Americans on the national transplant waiting list will die before they get a transplant. Most of these deaths are needless. Americans bury or cremate 20,000 transplantable organs every year.
There is a simple way to put a big dent in the organ shortage – give donated organs first to people who have agreed to donate their own organs when they die.
Giving organs first to organ donors will convince more people to register as organ donors. It will also make the organ allocation system fairer. People who aren’t willing to share the gift of life should go to the back of the waiting list as long as there is a shortage of organs.
Anyone who wants to donate their organs to others who have agreed to donate theirs can join LifeSharers. LifeSharers is a non-profit network of organ donors who agree to offer their organs first to other organ donors when they die. Membership is free at http://www.lifesharers.org or by calling 1-888-ORGAN88. There is no age limit, parents can enroll their minor children, and no one is excluded due to any pre-existing medical condition. LifeSharers has over 13,000 members at this writing, including 62 members in Utah.
Please contact me – Dave Undis, Executive Director of LifeSharers – if your readers would like to learn more about our innovative approach to increasing the number of organ donors. I can arrange interviews with some of our local members if you’re interested. My email address is daveundis@lifesharers.org. My phone number is 615-351-8622.