Caitrin Shirazi
Issue date: 4/21/09 Section: News
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Right: Karen Weber, behind table, helps students register to become organ donors. Weber is Maverick PR's advisor and an instructor in the School of Communication. (Caitrin Shirazi/The Gateway)
Right: Karen Weber, behind table, helps students register to become organ donors. Weber is Maverick PR's advisor and an instructor in the School of Communication. (Caitrin Shirazi/The Gateway)
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Maverick PR students prepare for the
Maverick PR students prepare for the "Be a Team Player: Become a M.V. Donor" event in the Milo Bail Student Center plaza on Thursday. (Andrea Ciurej/The Gateway)
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Members of Maverick PR, the UNO chapter of Public Relations Students Society of America, held an organ donor awareness event Thursday in the Nebraska Room and courtyard of the Milo Bail Student Center.
The event, "Be a Team Player: Become an M.V. (Most Valuable) Donor," was intended to observe National Donate Life Month in April.
"Planning for the event was really insightful," said Michelle Horn, a member of Maverick PR. "I didn't realize how many people weren't registered donors and weren't aware that one donor can save many lives."
Passers-by in the courtyard were encouraged to take part in basketball shoot-out contests in which they could also get more information on becoming an organ donor.
Radio station Channel 94.1 was present and hosted a live radio remote broadcast of the event. Free hotdogs and chips were given to anyone with proof of being an organ donor or those who signed up to become one at the informational displays that day.
UNO student and heart transplant recipient Sarah Prenosil also took the stage at the event to share the story of how organ donating saved her life.
Prenosil encouraged students, faculty and staff to register to become organ donors.
At present, more than 100,000 Americans are waiting for life-saving organ transplants, about 500 of whom live here in Nebraska.
"I think that the National Organ Donor Awareness campaign was an awesome opportunity to make students aware of the importance of becoming an organ donor," said Cassie Prestia, a member of Maverick PR. "I don't think students realize just how important it is and how greatly people are affected by it, even within our own community."
A question and answer session with a panel of people involved in promoting organ donor awareness wrapped up the event.
The panel members were Doug Bremers, manager of Donate Life Services; Mike Pick, clinical coordinator of Nebraska Organ Recovery System; Stephanie Lochmiller, public relations coordinator of Nebraska Organ Recovery System; Jennifer Lederer, tissue procurement manager of Lions Eye Bank of Nebraska; and Annette Fumagali, a heart transplant recipient.
The event was sponsored by Maverick PR in partnership with Donor Dudes and the Nebraska Organ Recovery System, the federally designated organ procurement organization for Nebraska and Pottawattamie County in Iowa.
Donor Dudes is a national advocacy group that promotes organ donation and stresses it's importance on college campuses across the country.
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