The girls lacrosse team at East Aurora High School had senior game night on May 8th. Each year they celebrate the life of Mike Schafer, who was an organ donor and also started the Booster Club at East Aurora High School.
The team wears green jerseys to celebrate Mike and to raise awareness about the importance of donation.
Thanks for spreading the word about donation!
Unyts was a sponsor for the 1st annual Recycle Fest in conjunction with Global Youth Service Day.
We were only expecting about 50 kids to help canvass the Kensington and Eggert neighborhood. We had over 60 kids show up in the neighborhood to hear the benefits of recycling and about what to recycle. In addition, they invited the neighbors to attend RecycleFest, which was held at the Community Charter School. There were games, food, composting and many prizes.
Unyts donated 12 bison’s hats, 15 Anderson’s milkshake gift certificates, a signed Sabres jersey.
A big thank you goes out everyone who helped make the 1st annual Recycle Fest a success!
Unyts is paying tribute to our heroes of organ, eye and tissue donation. It seemed fitting to call this endeavour “Honoring our Heroes”. We know that for the families of these donors, they really are heroes, and we certainly feel the same way.
We are truly honored to share these very touching personal stories each month. If you would like to honor a hero, please read below.
For the month of May, we honor …
John Stark 1984-2005
John was full of life. He was always on the go, looking for adventure. He was into extreme sports and was always trying new things. His last craze was snowboarding. He was fearless. He did not believe in letting fear rule a person. He was also a prankster. He loved to get a laugh out of people. He also had a very deep sensitive side, which not a lot of people saw.
John knew that I loved him and worried about him, as all mothers do. He was very respectful of my feelings. He and his friends called me Mrs. John’s Mom. I was watching him turn from a sometimes rebellious youth into a responsible young man. I was very proud of the life lessons he was learning and the direction his life was heading.
John was a great brother to Mike. As children, if John received a Christmas present that Mike liked, he would give it to him. A few weeks before Mike moved to California, the fuel pump went out on Mike’s car. He had money saved for moving, but was still strapped for cash. Mike needed money for the repairs and was stranded at the shop, so Mike called John at work. He said no problem, then asked his boss if he could duck out to give Mike some cash. His boss said no, so he said, “Okay, I’m taking my lunch.” His boss asked if he was going to drive to the shop to see his brother and John replied, “Of course not.” But he did, and they fired him for it. When Mike thanked him, he smiled and said, “Mike, you’ve always been like a brother to me.” It seems only fitting that his generosity in life would carry over in his death and that he would chose to give his body as a final gift to others.
When I took John to get his learner’s permit, he wanted to know what it meant to be an organ donor. I told him, and John signed up to donate his organs. I always believed in organ donation, and he liked the idea. I remember coming home from the DMV and being amazed that this sometimes cocky kid would actually consider something so serious and life saving. I was really proud of him. He would amaze me like that sometimes. Most of the time he was carefree and happy-go-lucky, but he had a very sweet and soft side that he would let people see every once in a while. Never in a million years did I think I would ever have to make a decision about donating his organs.
On January 17, 2005, there was a bad lake effect snow storm and traveling was treacherous.
John and his buddy Jim decided they were going to go snowboarding at Holiday Valley. While driving down the 219, the driver lost control of the car and slid into oncoming traffic. The passenger side was T-boned and John was killed instantly. His body was put in the morgue at Bertrand Chafee hospital and John’s license, keys and wallet where the police barracks in Cattaraugus county. At this time the registry was just getting started and licenses weren’t marked with hearts, so the police had no clue that my son wanted to be an organ donor. I don’t even know if John had filled out the back of his license.
Because John and I talked about organ donation, I made a call to the hospital and was put through to Unyts. At that time, the last thing I wanted to do was discus with someone about donating my sons organs, but I knew it was something I had to do. The people from Unyts were wonderful.
Because my son died instantly, I could not donate his vital organs. I was able to donate his corneas, tissues and bone. My biggest fear was being told that his organs could not be used, but I feel so blessed that my son’s death has not been totally in vain and that he was able to help someone else.
His corneas were used to give the gift sight to two people. I’ve been fortunate enough to have met one of them. His heart valves were used to help to two children. All in all, I’ve been told he could have helped more than 50 people.
As a result of John being a donor, all of his friends are signed up to be organ donors and I encourage others to do so and give the gift of life.
Unyts would like to thank Volkswagon of Orchard Park for being our Donate Life partner for the month of April. Volkswagon of Orchard Park donated $25 gas cards to our first 100 blood donors.
Our blood donors wanted to show their appreciation to Volkswagon, so they sent these cards to the folks at VW of Orchard Park.
Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, with Donate Life Club students
Donate Life Club students from City Honors, Emerson and South Park High School went to Buffalo City Hall for Lobby Day on Monday, April 22nd. The students served as great ambassadors of the Donate Life mission. They advocated to common council members, explaining the importance of signing the NY State Donate Life Registry. The students even challenged Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown to host a blood drive and collect over 86 units of blood (to beat the top collecting school, South Park) Mayor Brown says he’s up for the challenge!
South District Council Member Christopher Scanlon, with Donate Life Club students
Fillmore District Council Member David Franczyk, along with Donate Life Club Students
The following blog was written by: Jamal Hamideh, South Park High School
Monday April 21, I attended the Unyts advocacy program where representatives from the company, myself and other students from various high schools such as Emerson and City Honors went to City Hall. We spoke to council members about the Donate Life program. We educated them of the benefits of organ, tissue and blood donations. It was a great learning experience for me and my peers and I feel very lucky to have been able to attend such an event.
We began our tour around the whole building including the observation deck on the 25th floor. I was stoked to meet mayor Byron Brown, as well as take photos with him and several other council members. At first I was very nervous to speak in front of people of such importance, but after a few tries I gained confidence after realizing that they’re normal people. We also gave them facts about how important it is to donate blood with Unyts, because it all stays local to save lives here in Western New York. Unyts saves hospitals millions of dollars on blood. We stressed the importance of city representatives to participate in spreading awareness and participating.
Overall, it was a great experience and I feel very proud to be a part of the whole program. Unyts is a very wonderful organization and is very active in the whole community of Western New York. Being there to advocate for Donate Life was a very beneficial experience for me, because I learned how the local political system operates, and the importance of every single person in that building. . Our group gave city hall and everybody in it a challenge, to match South Park’s blood donation rate of an average of 86 doners at each blood drive. The challenge was zealously accepted!
Unyts would like to congratulate the winners of the Donate Life Club poster contest.
It was close, but we were so impressed by the students of East Aurora High School. Congrats to the Donate Life Club for helping us spread the important message of Organ, Eye, Tissue and Blood donation here in WNY!
March 25, 2013
April is Donate Life Month. Unyts and ECMC are celebrating a great partnership when it comes to organ transplantation. The Regional Center of Excellence for Transplantation & Kidney Care at ECMC is a state-of-the-art facility dedicated to complete patient care. Unyts is WNY’s only organ, eye, tissue and community blood center.
It’s a time to remind the community how important it is to sign the organ donor registry. Around 800 people here in WNY are waiting for lifesaving organs today. Around 118 people are added to the nation’s transplant waiting list a day-that’s 1 every 10 minutes.
You have the power to be someone’s hero! During Donate Life month, sign the organ donor registry!
Cliff Benson, Sabres Chief Development officer, donates blood for Unyts
What a fantastic turnout for the Unyts/Buffalo Sabres blood drive on Monday, March 18th.
Blood donors were ready and waiting before it even opened, hoping to score an exclusive Sabres baseball cap, donated by New Era.
All donors who made appointments were able to take a tour of the locker room, which was a huge draw for diehard Sabres fans!
Inside the Sabres locker room
By the end of the day, over 160 donors came out to the First Niagara Center to donate blood, which helps keep safe levels at area hospitals.
Unyts is the primary supplier of blood for Kaleida Health, ECMC, and all the hospitals in Niagara and Wyoming Counties.
If you weren’t able to make it to the blood drive, but would like to donate blood, just make an appointment at a site near you!
Alden High School’s Donate Life Club Event week was a huge success this year!
To kick start our week, we decided to show our spirit with corresponding attire to stand for Unyts. On Monday it was U- “Unyts” Day, wear blue and green, N-Tuesday-Wear “Neckties,” Y-Wednesday- wear “Your” favorite sports team gear, T- Thursday- “Twins” Day, and if you gave blood on Tuesday, wear your navy blue Donate Life shirt, and to end the week, Friday was S- Ugly “Sweater” Day.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013 was a big day as the Donate Life Club broke pre-existing records for the number of participating volunteer donors at our Unyts Blood Drive with 120 signing in to donate, resulting in 97 units of blood collected. We also had tons of first time donors and 90% of all donations were students ages 16-18.
For the first time ever, Donate Life held a Fashion Show to honor Andrew Gramza, calling it “Vitality.” This tremendous feat could not have been accomplished without Naomi Skarupinski and Matt Masci, Alden alumni. Many generous contributors donated their time and expertise. Some companies offered up their designs and over 250 people attended the event to show their overwhelming support. This Vitality Fashion Show raised a total of $4,895.00 in one evening being donated to Unyts in Andrew Gramza’s memory.
Our week wasn’t over…Alden High School held the most successful “Light up the Night” dance yet, raising $2,120! This dance consisted of music, refreshments and glow sticks for everyone.
In total, over $7000 was raised for Unyts.
We’re all so happy about the success of this week and will continue our enthusiastic support of Unyts and Andrew’s Army!!
(*Andrew Gramza gave the gift of life in 2010 when he donated his heart valves to Unyts. Andrew’s Army is a non-profit group that raises money for Unyts/Donate Life to promote awareness of organ and tissue donation and transplantation.)
Blogpost written by: Casey Kristiniask, Alden Donate Life Club Secretary
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