What an Honor

Our family has been given the opportunity to go to the National Donor Recognition Ceremony and Workshop in Washington, DC in July! Until we were given this honor, I had never heard of this event. I knew of the Transplant Games that are played every other year to honor recipients, but this is the event held on the opposite year to honor donors. Here's a bit about it ~

The 11th National Donor Recognition Ceremony and Workshop (NDRCW) will take place in July in Washington, D.C. The NDRCW is the Federal government’s biennial event that takes place in the nation’s capital and pays tribute to all Americans who have donated organs, tissues, or marrow to save or enhance the lives of others. It is a unique opportunity for donor families and living donors, their families and friends, transplant recipients, and donation and transplant professionals from across the country to come together to share experiences and honor organ, tissue, and marrow donors in a special way.
The NDRCW will include a series of educational workshops and sharing sessions on issues or topics of interest to donor families, living donors and professionals. The National Donor Family Quilt will be on display in its entirety, and donor families will be given the opportunity to pin their own Quilt square in honor of their loved one at the Quilt Pinning. The Recognition Ceremony will feature special presentations to honor America’s heroes – living donors and those who donated organs and/or tissues after death. Each family and living donor will also receive a Donor Recognition Medal and a Certificate of Appreciation from the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration.

Our Abby will have a square on the National Quilt "Patches of Love"! (I'll share it when we complete it). We will also be taking a bus trip to visit the National Donor Memorial at UNOS (United Network of Organ Sharing) in Richamond, VA. We've been told that the Garden is very powerful to see. Also, UNOS is the place where it all happens. It is the place where lives are saved as donors and recipients from all over the country are matched there.

All I can say is, what an honor to be able to go!