This year’s Organ Donor Awareness Week campaign will take place from April 2 to 9, with several fundraising events to take place in Westmeath. The life saving awareness campaign is organised by the Irish Kidney Association and supported by the Irish Donor Network.
Irish Kidney Association volunteer collectors will be selling forget-me-not flowers (the symbol of transplantation ) and other merchandise in Athlone during Organ Donor Awareness Week which runs from April 2 -9. There will be collections at the Aldi Store, Athlone on Thursday April 7. Collections will also take place at Golden Island Shopping Centre and Dunnes Stores, Montrose at the beginning and end of the week on Saturday and Sunday April 2 and 9.
There will be church gate collections in Mullingar on Saturday and Sunday April 2 and 3 at Christ the King Cathedral, and also at Killucan and Raharney church on the same dates. Collections will also take place at the Aldi Store, Mullingar on Thursday April 7.
RTE TV and radio presenter, Joe Duffy, has pledged his support to this year’s Organ Donor Awareness Week campaign, and continues to highlight the plight of people with organ failure on his popular radio show. The 2011 campaign will feature Joe in radio advertising as well as on posters encouraging the public to carry an organ donor card.
There are currently over 650 people in Ireland awaiting life saving organ transplants including heart, lung, liver, kidney, and pancreas. The focus of Organ Donor Awareness Week is to raise awareness about the ongoing and ever increasing demand for organ donation and transplantation and to seek support from the public to make an informed decision to carry an organ donor card.
Organ Donor Awareness Week also serves as a fundraising exercise for the Irish Kidney Association. Throughout the Week, Irish Kidney Association volunteers will be out on the streets and in shopping centres throughout the country selling forget-me-not flower emblems, brooches, magnetic car ribbons, organ donor keyrings, and packs of forget-me-not flower seeds. Proceeds will go to the Irish Kidney Association’s support programme for patients on dialysis and those patients fortunate enough to have a kidney transplant.
Organ donor cards can also be obtained by phoning the Irish Kidney Association LoCall 1890 543639 or Freetext the word DONOR to 50050. Visit www.ika.ie
