Community Health Coalition, Area Faith Community To Recognize National Donor Sabbath Nov. 10-12
Area Churches, Mosques, Synagogues, and Temples are invited to join in the campaign
Durham, NC – For more than 15 years, the weekend in November two weeks before Thanksgiving has held a special significance – it’s National Donor Sabbath. Community Health Coalition, Inc. (CHC) continues it work throughout the Durham community to promote organ and tissue donation, and Legacy Building (end of life planning).
Area churches, mosques, synagogues, and temples are invited to join in the campaign to encourage donating the gift of life. CHC has marketing materials, donor forms and specially designed fans to provide complimentary to each who wants to participate. Contact CHC to sign up and receive a donor pack for your members at 919-490-6730 or email chealthc@gmail.com. All participating will be added to a list which will be promoted in area advertising during the month of November.
National Donor Sabbath is a time when leaders of all faiths and denominations are invited to join with organ, eye, and tissue donation professionals and organizations and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, to bring attention to the precious gift of life. A list of the known positions of some religions in America can be found on CHCs’ website at www.chealthc.org.
If you are not already aware of how your particular religion views organ donation (both for living and deceased donors), we hope this guide will inspire you to find out and share the knowledge with members of your faith.
During this 3-day weekend, November 10-12, (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) faith leaders have a special opportunity to involve members of their own community and educate them about sharing the gift of life through organ donation. It’s a time when they can make a real difference for the more than 123,000 people waiting for transplants.
On Friday, November 10 from 10:00 am – 8:00 pm, CHC will man a kiosk at South Point Mall to solicit donor registration and pass out information to education the public on organ and tissue donation in addition to Legacy Building (end of life planning). The public is invited out to support this effort.
While people of all ages and ethnicities can save and enhance lives through donation, organs are matched to recipients by a variety of factors—such as blood and tissue type—which can vary by race and ethnicity. While skin color is not a barrier when it comes to organ donations and transplants, the odds of a transplant being successful are much greater when a minority recipient receives an organ from a minority donor.
As part of this effort to raise awareness within these communities, Community Health Coalition is actively seeking individuals, particularly minorities to register as donors. The goal is to register over 150 donors. If you are interested you can download the form and view the documentary Precious Gift of Life at www.chealthc.org or call 919-470-8680.
The Community Health Coalition, Inc. is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization committed to improving health outcomes for African Americans and historically disadvantaged populations in Durham and surrounding areas who shoulder a disproportionate share of morbidity and mortality due to poor health outcomes across a broad spectrum of illness and disease. Their motto is “a healthy community includes you,” because they know that creating healthy communities, families, and individuals will require the collective works and concerted efforts by everyone in the community from lay persons and community leaders, health educators and practitioners, and health care service providers. The core of their work is done through providing health education and promotion, health equity advocacy, and health care services referrals.