MEDIA RELEASES
Heroes Who Gave Gift of Life
Honored at Special Donor Family Recognition Ceremony - Sunday, April 30, 2006
Donor Family to Meet Recipient for First Time
(Sacramento and Santa Rosa Families Come Together to Pay Tribute and Heal)
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New Local Donor Remembrance Quilt to Be Unveiled
(Sacramento/Santa Rosa) – Eighteen-year-old Desiree Nevarez of Roseville always wanted to give a helping hand when needed. To make certain her mother knew of her wish to donate life – Desiree peeled the donor dot from her mom’s license and put it on her own.
On June 14, 2005 – Desiree was in a fatal car accident, and her decision to donate life meant four
other people were given a second chance.
Fifty nine year-old Elizabeth Stein, of Elk Grove -- mother of three and grandmother of 13,
is one of those four people. Elizabeth, a kidney/liver recipient says Desiree’s decision to donate, “Gave me my life back.”
Stein will have the chance to say thank you in person to Desiree’s mother, Maria Nevarez, when they meet for the first time at a special donor family gathering. They will come together with more than 100 other donor family members on Sunday, April 30 from 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. to be honored at Golden State Donor Services'* special Donor Family Recognition Ceremony (at the Catta Verdera Country Club - 1111 Catta Verdera, Lincoln, CA 95648. Go north on 80 to Hwy 65 --toward Marysville/Yuba City -- and take the Twelve Bridges Rd. exit going East about 3 miles.)
“I’m excited to meet Elizabeth,” says Maria Nevarez. “It has provided me with great comfort knowing that my daughter gave Elizabeth and three others life. Desiree lived life to the fullest – and I believe her gift is now allowing others to live their lives to the fullest as she did everyday."
Immediately following the Donor Family Recognition Ceremony, at 4 p.m., on the Catta Verdera grounds, there will be aspecial unveiling of GSDS’ Donor Remembrance Quilt. The quilt, created by local donor families and recipients in honor of organ donors, is the first of its kind for Sacramento – and will go on display at community events throughout the year.
One of the many local recipients and donor family members who will be at the quilt unveiling is Vivian Masayon of North Highlands – mother to Ashley Marie Masayon, who became a donor at age nine following a tragic boating accident.
Vivian describes Ashley as, “A little girl with a great big heart, brown hair and big curious eyes… showing you things beyond her years.”
Vivian says her daughter’s giving spirit helped her and her husband, Walter, reach beyond their grief following her death. They knew their little girl who “helped anyone who needed it,” would want to be an organ donor. That decision saved the lives of a 3-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl – both needed kidney transplants.
Helen Nelson, Executive Director of Golden State Donor Services, notes both the Donor Family Recognition Ceremony and the Donor Remembrance Quilt Unveiling are all about saying
thank you to the donors and their families. Families - who, during their darkest hours, were able to reach out to someone else in need by saying "yes" to organ donation.
"These families and their loved ones are heroes in every sense of the word. Right now, in our area (greater Sacramento and Santa Rosa) nearly 600 people wait for a life-saving organ transplant, yet only about 60 percent of those families approached for donation say 'yes'. We urge Californians to sign up on the new Donate Life California Registry** at www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org so it’s clear to
everyone that they wish to give life. Families who lose a loved one find great comfort when their loved one's last wish can be carried out, turning their tragedy into life for someone else. It’s about giving life.”
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*GSDS is a private, nonprofit agency facilitating organ donation and transplantation in Sacramento and 10 surrounding counties, as well as Santa Rosa.
**The Donate Life California Registry acts as an Advanced Directive for organ and tissue donation, ensuring that the wish of individuals to give life is honored at the time of death. All Californians will have even easier access to the Donate Life California Registry in July of this year, when the California Department of Motor Vehicles will begin recording the donation wishes of those applying for or renewing their driver license and adding those names to the registry. A permanent pink dot will be printed on licenses of those who sign up to give life.
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