WE’RE LESS THAN ONE MONTH AWAY FROM 5K DAY!

Hi Everyone,

A big THANKS to all my friends who participated in NJ Sharing Network’s 5K Celebration of Life in Paramus! I hope you had a blast! Donor families, transplant recipients, living donors, those waiting, volunteers, hospital partners and corporate sponsors came together and enjoyed a beautiful, sunny day to honor, to remember, and to give hope. If you haven’t done so already, make sure you check out our Facebook for all event day photos! You can also check out our Newsroom to see all the cool media coverage we received at the event.

Now it is time to start preparing for the 5K Celebration of Life Walk & USATF Certified Timed Race in New Providence!  WE’RE ONLY ONE MONTH AWAY! Make sure to get outside and lace up those running shoes.  You can sign up by visiting: http://www.njsharingnetwork.org/5k if you want to join me! 

Don’t want to walk or run? You can also volunteer – I’m sure NJ Sharing Network will need all the help they can get to make the 5K run smoothly. Volunteer registration is now OPEN!

If you have questions regarding the 5K Celebration of Life dates or locations, feel free to reach out to NJ Sharing Network staff at 5K@njsharingnetwork.org or call the 5K Hotline at 908-514-1761.

That’s all for now – hope to see you soon!

XOXO,

Ms. Pumps

Let's Celebrate Donate Life Month!

Hi everybody! It’s all hands on deck here at NJSN! Our staff has been very busy working on many exciting events and volunteer opportunities to help us celebrate National Donate Life Month, so get ready because we’ll need your help!

To ensure this April is the best one yet, I encourage you to join our various communities and partners in demonstrating support by hosting events all month long, and participating in National Blue and Green Day on April 15th! Please be sure to take lots of pictures and post them on our Facebook or Twitter pages using #NJSN and #DonateLife or send them to Alissa Marie at atreible@njsharingnetwork.org to enter our Donate Life Month photo contest! To learn how else you can help spread the word of organ and tissue donation during Donate Life Month, download our electronic resource kit HERE!

Finally, I can’t think of a better way to celebrate Donate Life Month than with our Annual 5K Celebration of Life at Bergen Community College in Paramus on April 24th. I am so excited! I cannot wait to welcome all of our families, and enjoy this fun-filled day of music and festivities for all ages.  What are you waiting for?! Sign up today to participate or volunteer by visiting the 5K Website.  I hope to see all of you there!

Stay tuned for more event updates and volunteer opportunities. Happy April everyone!

XOXO,

Ms. Pumps

Much to Celebraton on February 14!

Hello Everyone!   Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! But more importantly, HAPPY NATIONAL DONOR DAY!!   Thank you for all of your birthday wishes as well. It’s so sweet to know I have such great friends like you to help me celebrate my 29th! Here’s what I’m going to do to in honor of these special occasions, and I encourage you to do the same: ·         Register as an organ and tissue donor using the national, mobile-friendly registry, and recruit 5 friends to do the same. ·         Share your wishes with your friends and family. ·         Add to my Birthday Album! Post your favorite photo of me on our Facebook page or send to vhorvath@njsharingnetwork.org. Enjoy spending time with your loved ones on this special day! Until next time…   XOXO, Ms. Pumps

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year Friends!

I can’t believe the Rose Parade is tomorrow morning!  I’m sure you have seen all the preparations that are taking place for the Donate Life Float on our Facebook  page. Five families from New Jersey will be participating tomorrow:

·         Floragraph of Besty Niles: Organ and Tissue Donor,
                        Sponsored by Bridge to Life Ltd.

·         Floragraph of Andrew Jova: Organ and Tissue Donor
                        Sponsored by NJ Sharing Network Foundation

·         Floragraph of Robert McCullion: Tissue Donor
                        Sponsored by Dignity Memorial

·         Float Rider Mark Meade: Heart Transplant Recipient
                        Sponsored by NJ Sharing Network Foundation

·         Float Walker Donna Albanese-DeMair: Living Kidney Donor
                        Sponsored by NJ Sharing Network Foundation

I heard we are float #36 in the parade, so keep your eyes peeled! Here are some of the stations you where you can watch, starting at 11:00am:

·         ABC

·         Hallmark Channel

·         HGTV

·         NBC

·         Univision

I hope you have a great time ringing in the New Year with your family and friends, and remember to check our social media throughout the weekend for more updates from California!

Welcome to 2016!

-Ms. Pumps, xoxo

NJ Sharing Network’s Symposium on Organ and Tissue Donation

Hi Friends:  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What a GREAT day I had at our Symposium! I learned about all different aspects of organ and tissue donation and transplantation. It was so awesome to see our community partners come together for a fun-filled day of education and networking. I was able to spend some quality time with our volunteers, meet all of the wonderful guest speakers, and help families make their quilt squares. This event gets bigger and better every year, and I know everyone at NJ Sharing Network was happy you could join us.

Here are some highlights of the day:

• 30 New Volunteers completed their Ambassador Certification
•      75 Nurses & Social Workers received Continuing Education Credits
•      300 Participated in a fun-filled day of learning

Thank you so much again for those who attended. Be sure to check out all event photos HERE!

XOXO,

Ms. Pumps

P.S. – Save the Dates!

Our Annual 5K Celebration of Life will be here before you know it! Join us as we celebrate our Team Captains, Donor Families, Recipients, and Volunteers at our three locations:

• April 24, 2016: 5K Walk @ Bergen Community College

• June 5, 2016: 5K Walk & USATF Certified Race @ NJ Sharing Network Headquarters
• August 21, 2016: 5K Walk @ Brookdale Community College

ECHO a Life-Saving Message!

Hello! Hola! Xin Chào! 您好!

For the next two weeks, I’ll be participating in Donate Life ECHO! I’m calling on all my friends to help me spread the word!

ECHO stands for Every Community Has Opportunity and was created to encourage people from all walks of life to share their wishes to become organ and tissue donors! The concept of the ECHO is so cool – one person shares their life-saving decision, followed by another and another! Can you hear it?!

What makes ECHO so important is the crucial role multicultural communities play in donation. In fact, out of the nearly 124,000 people waiting for an organ transplant, approximately 77,633 are multicultural patients! WOW!

Here’s how you can help NJ Sharing Network recognize Donate Life ECHO:

·         Register to be an organ and tissue donor here.

·         Have the conversation about donation with your family.

·         Fill out an ECHO speech bubble to show your support – download here:

• English
• Spanish

• Blank

·         Participate in the ECHO photo campaign on our Facebook page.

·         Host a Lily’s Laces reading at your local library or summer camp. Please contact Veronica Horvath at 908-516-5637 for more information.

 

Thank you so much for your support! I can’t wait to see all of your fun photos! Like mine?

 

XOXO,

Ms. Pumps

 

P.S. – National Minority Donor Awareness Week is coming up, August 1-7!

National Minority Donor Awareness Week was created to increase awareness of the need for organ and tissue donors, especially among minority communities. During this special time, we honor minorities who gave the Gift of Life, and encourages others to have the conversation with their families! Can’t wait to celebrate this with everyone, too!

 

 

YOU DID IT!

Hi Friends!

YOU DID IT! I am very happy to announce that the 5K Celebration of Life has officially raised $1 Million! Thank you to all who contributed to make this goal possible. Your continuous generosity never ceases to amaze me!

With these funds, the NJ Sharing Network Foundation will continue to provide support to numerous projects and programs. Some of these areas include laboratory research, donor family support, education for our hospital partners and community outreach to spread our life-saving message.

The amount of funds raised is not the only milestone we reached at the 5^th Annual 5K Celebration of Life event. With two locations, and a combined total of over 12,000 attendees, we had our highest level of participation yet. We also had a record-breaking total of over 450 volunteers to help us make both events absolutely perfect! Be sure to check out all the awesome photos on our Facebook page!

Psst - I even heard talk of adding a third location next year – how exciting would that be?!

With your hard work and dedication, YOU make all of these things possible. We’re so lucky to have such AMAZING people as our advocates. Congratulations to our entire NJ Sharing Network family for reaching this achievement.

XOXO,

Ms. Pumps

PS: Just because the 5K is over doesn’t mean I’ll be slowing down anytime soon! With two cycling events and our Annual Golf Classic coming up, I have a lot of training to do! So strap on that helmet and start practicing your back-swing - I hope you can join me!

Hooray for the 5K!!!

Hey everyone!  Ms. Pumps here!  I hope you all had fun at NJ Sharing Network's 5th Annual Celebration of Life in New Providence this past weekend... I know I did!  It was great to see so many with connections to organ and tissue donation.  It was also great to meet many of the wonderful volunteers and team participants and hear their inspiring stories. I also loved being part of the “warm-up” on the main stage with Team Martial Arts for Life!  My favorite part of the day was watching all of the amazing runners and walkers who crossed the finish line!  You are all doing your heart a favor by exercising and staying healthy while helping us to spread awareness about organ and tissue donation.

 

Sunday was a beautiful day for NJ Sharing Network's 5th Annual Celebration of Life.  The weather was perfect and it was so great to see so many smiling faces and motivated teams.  With a record-breaking 10,000 attendees, this 5K was the best and biggest yet.  Here at NJ Sharing Network, we'd like to send a big thank you out to our donor families, transplant recipients, living donors, those waiting for a transplant, volunteers, elected officials and hospital, community and corporate sponsors.  All of you made this wonderful day possible.  Here at the office, we are already gearing up for next year!  We hope to see you out and about at community events and again year at our 6^th Annual 5K Celebration of Life event in both Paramus and New Providence.

XOXO,

Ms. Pumps

ARE YOU MAD?! My Kidney Donation Story

By Sara Toffoli

Until I read a People magazine article years ago about a living kidney donor, I didn't even know that it was possible to do such a thing.  I've always been an organ donor on my driver's license, but I liked the idea of being able to help save a life while still alive to see the impact. 

I was watching the late news on October 17, 2013 and saw a segment on WPIX called "Help Me Howard."  My husband Greg was asleep in his chair.  Howard was highlighting Torrey Green's quest for a kidney donor (an art teacher from the Miami area).  His story struck a chord with me and I sensed that inside this smiling man was a sad, sick person striving to stay positive and hopeful while not in the best of health.  Torrey needed a break and I hoped I could be it, so I sent  my first email to the network.  When I told Greg my idea he responded, "Are you mad?!"  He told me after surgery that he felt something had to come up to disqualify me, but I had faith that if it was meant to be, it was meant to be.  I spoke to a colleague who had done it for his niece and it deepened my resolve to pursue donating a kidney altruistically. 

On November 19, 2013, I had my first crossmatch blood test and a week later I discovered Torrey and I were a match.  On December 12, I spent a full day at NY Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center undergoing a battery of tests including drawing many tubes of blood, chest x-ray, CT scans of my pelvis and abdomen and an EKG.  I also spoke with a social worker, doctor AND a psychiatrist to ensure I knew the risks and to ensure I knew there would be no financial reward for donating.  On June 3 the following year, I met with the surgeon who eased my husband's concerns and went through a final pre-surgery check-up along with registering with the OR.  I saw Torrey, but we did not speak.  He'd been heartbroken by donors backing out and I didn't want to risk saying anything just in case my check-up came back with any reason to eliminate me from donating. 

June 12 was surgery day.  I woke up and got to the hospital at 5:00 AM.  I checked in and sat down with Greg to wait.  Torrey walked in and he looked at me, smiled and we embraced as he sobbed quietly.  I knew I was making the right decision all along and reassured him that the worst was behind him.  We posed for photos and you can see in them how we're both beaming with peace and love for each other and the decision that would soon impact both of our lives.  Two days later, I returned home and slowly got my strength and energy back. 

I couldn't have done this without the loving support of Greg, his family and all of our friends and colleagues.  To see Torrey returned to the life and vitality teaching his students art and enjoying life again is all I ever wished for when I started the process almost a year earlier.  Our story aired on WPIX in early July and seeing myself motivated me to get myself into better shape and I'm now twenty five pounds lighter than I was during surgery.  I'm embracing life more than ever and have Torrey to thank for inspiring me.  I wish I had more kidneys to donate!

 

Torrey and Sara- Before

 

Torrey and Sara- After

Start Preparing for the 5K!

Hello Everyone!

Ms. Pumps here!  It is almost June and we all know what that means, 5K season!  As you know, on April 12^th I participated in NJ Sharing Network’s 5^th Annual 5K Celebration of Life Walk with nearly 2,000 friends. The day was beautiful and it was so exciting to see everyone being active…while keeping their hearts healthy and pumping.  Now it is time to start preparing for the June 7^th 5K Celebration of Life Walk and USATF Certified Race- located at our headquarters in New Providence! 

 

With Memorial Day weekend approaching, make sure to get outside and start training for June 7^th.  The forecast looks sunny and warm, which is perfect weather conditions to get outside and go for a run.  Remember to sign up online if you want to join me!  If you have any questions feel free to email the wonderful staff at NJ Sharing Network at 5K@njsharingnetwork.org and they will be more than happy to answer any of your questions. 

That’s all for now! 

 

XOXO,

Ms. Pumps