A living ribbon

Thunder Bay does well when it comes to organ donation, but at a 38 per cent participation rate, there’s still plenty of room to grow, said the chapter co-ordinator of the local Kidney Foundation branch.

On Tuesday Cashin, together with 400 students and teachers at Westgate Collegiate and Vocational Institute stormed the football field behind the south-side school, donned bright green plastic-bag ponchos and formed a living ribbon, symbolic of organ donation in much the same way a pink ribbon represents breast cancer.

Getting donation number to increase has always been a challenge, Cashin said, for a variety of reasons.

"They’re just not aware of why they should donate or what the need is out there," she said. "They’re just not aware of the statistics and things that are happening. And maybe fear. They may just be afraid of the unknown, I guess."

The reasons in favour should far outweigh that fear, she added.

"One of the main reasons to donate is to save lives. One person donating organs can save multiple, multiple lives," she said.

That message isn’t lost on students like Jenna Gibbons, a Grade 12 Westgate student, who as vice-president of the school’s student council, helped organize Tuesday’s event alongside the Kidney Foundation and the Trillium Gift of Life Network, which for three years has provided money to teach teens about the importance of organ donation at the school.

"Once we do an event like this, they start asking questions," the 18-year-old Gibbons said. "And we do start informing them more. It makes them really aware. It’s really great to see."

Gibbons said it’s especially important for kids to learn the message at a young age.

"Organ donation is something that affects so many different people in so many different ways. And if the young kids can get involved with it early, and be aware of it early, then it allows them to later on in life to become more aware and to donate and to save lives," said Gibbons, who plans to follow through and sign an organ donor card.

Sandra Petzel, an organ and tissue donation co-ordinator with the Trillium Gift of Life Network, said teaching Grade 11 students about organ donation is one thing, but having them come out en masse and form a giant green ribbon on a football field really sends the message home.

"When they’re putting on that green poncho and making the green ribbon, they’re asking why are we doing this, what is the significance of this. And to follow up with (they start to realize) that you have the capacity to save someone’s life. I think that’s huge," she said. "To target this age group is amazing, and to have this many students come out, you can’t buy that kind of awarenss.

According to the Trillium Gift of Life website, one donor can save up to eight lives and enhance or impact the lives of 75 more.

Petzel sad it’s important to register as an organ donor, which is done when registering or renewing a health card in Ontario. Potential donors should also make family members aware of their wishes.