With a waiting list that exceeds 90,000 people in the United States, organ donation is a cause in need of support nationwide. Karen Swierski's Advanced Public Relations course is having a three-week awareness campaign to raise consciousness in UB students about organ donation.
"The program itself would never have gotten off the ground without Dr. Thomas Feeley of the Communications Department, who was awarded with a research grant to help further the exposure of organ and tissue donation," Swierski said.
Her course is focused on two main objectives: to increase the awareness of organ and tissue donation among the UB population, and to encourage students to sign up to be potential organ donors.
"I highly recommend anyone who would like to be an organ donor to register with UNYTS (Upstate New York Transplant Services, Inc.) directly," Swierski said. "So many people enlist to become a potential organ donor on their driver's license, or voter registration form, and the fact is, those agencies are unreliable in relaying back that information quick enough to agencies that need it."
Swierski asserts that enrolling in the donor registry is the only way to express your full intent to donate. She also explained that the success of transplantation is often enhanced by the matching of organs between members of the same bloodline.
"If anyone in your family is in need of an organ or tissue donation, there is no harm in taking the preliminary tests just to see if you could be a potential match," she said.
Swierski and the 30 other students in her class are holding an event on April 11 in the Social Hall (Flag Room) of the Student Union from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. "Save the Day: UB a Superhero with the power of donation" will feature free food, music and even superheroes in costume, hoping to entice more people to come in and check out organ donation.
UNYTS and the class also had a table set up in the Student Union in the past two weeks with brochures and volunteers to answer the questions of any interested passerby.
"It is scary to think how important organ and tissue donation really is," said Denise Ball, a volunteer.
Last year, a UB student lost his life in tragic a car accident, and happened to be an organ donor. The organs from this student's body went on to save the lives of thirty individuals who were in the need of a donation, according to Ball.
"Imagine how many people we could save if every member of the student body was actually a registered organ donor," Ball said.
The UNYTS table will remain in the Student Union for the next few weeks, and Karen Swierski and the rest of her class encourage anyone to stop by and pick up a brochure, and have a quick conversation with one of their representatives.
"There are no obligations when it comes to organ donation - you are simply giving people hope," Swierski said.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
