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Dr. Kenneth Moritsugu, Surgeon General of the United States, spoke at the Annual Betty Buckley Donor Family Ceremony last October 2005. He is a strong advocate for donation awareness, as he himself is a donor family member, having lost both his wife and child. He commends the members of the Michigan Donor Family Advisory Council for their diligent work in donation awareness in Michigan. |
Gift of Life sponsors several Donor Family Ceremonies each year to honor and remember the donors and to thank their families.
- Gift of Life Rose Planting ceremonies at hospitals throughout the state. Refer to upcoming events for dates and locations.
- Gift of Life, on behalf of the Surgeon General of the United States, offers our donor families the opportunity to receive a certificate of appreciation for their kind act of consenting to donation. Along with the certificate, donor families are given a packet of resources and information about grief and support.
- An annual Betty Buckley Donor Family Ceremony to honor of the past year's organ and tissue donors. Photos from the most recent Donor Family Ceremony can be found under Past Events. In 2007, many families submitted photos of their loved ones for the commemorative slideshow, which is now available for viewing on You Tube by clicking this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1VqmH_B70A
In May 2004, members of Gift of Life's Donor Family Advisory Committee formed a not-for-profit 501c3 Michigan Donor Family Foundation whose mission is to support donor families throughout the state of Michigan. Any funds raised will go to support families through educational activities, memorial ceremonies and bereavement resources.
For information on these programs contact:
Penny Colthurst at
800-482-4881
or pcolthurst@giftoflifemichigan.org
Remembrance Ceremony, Capitol Grounds, Lansing, April 29, 2008
The Michigan Donor Family Council honored their loved ones who gave the gifts of life at a special Remembrance Ceremony in Lansing, during National
Donate Life Month. Gift of Life Executive Director, Richard Pietroski, welcomed the families and thanked them for their dedication to Gift of Life
and their devotion to their loved ones. MOTTEP Director, Remonia Chapman, led the group in a prayer and Barb Gerber, donor mom, told the story of the"Forever Green" tree on the Capitol grounds. After many tears, pictures and hugs the ceremony concluded.
