The Center for Organ Recovery and Education, a federally designated not-for-profit organ procurement organization joined the Multicultural Task Force to present “Celebration of Praise,” a free gospel concert to promote the need for organ donors among multicultural communities.
The event was held July 30 at the August Wilson Center for African American Culture, Downtown. The concert was part of the commemoration of the 15th annual National Minority Donor Awareness Day on Aug. 1.
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| MOM DONOR—Salaya Martin with her daughter Samaya and sister Shania Warren. Samaya had an intestine transplant when she was 3 years old. Salaya Martin said, “Organ donation is very important because it gave my daughter life, before the transplant they were giving Samaya a few months to live and now she is a viable 5-year-old that brings such joy to my life and others. It is very important in the Black community because we are No. 1 as those who need transplants and we are the least that donate so we need to get the word out about the importance of giving the gift of life.”
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“Because conditions such as diabetes and hypertension are often more prevalent in the minority community, minorities make up more than 50 percent of the people on the national organ transplant list,” said Susan Stuart, president and CEO of CORE. “At the same time, minorities comprise only about a quarter of the registered organ donors today. We hope that events such as ‘Celebration of Praise’ will compel people to register as an organ donor. Few things are more precious than the life-saving gift of an organ.”
Reverend Loran Mann, pastor of Pentecostal Temple COGIC served as the emcee. CORE provided attendees with the option to register as an organ donor along with offering preventive health information.
(For more information, call 1-800-DONORS-7.)
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