The Gift of Life

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by Thelma Sardin and Wendell A. LaGrand

William Bill Garth, Sr. is a charitable man who has spent his life being a voice for the minority. The philanthropist is CEO of the Chicago Citizen Newspaper Group, Inc. and the QBG Foundation and carries out a multitude of civic duties throughout

the community. In this season of giving, it is important to understand everyone needs a helping hand and Garth is no exception. Since 2006, Garth has been in need of a kidney transplant. My doctor told me I couldnt stay on dialysis too long, no longer than 5 years. After that, your body starts deteriorating, he said.

Education and awareness of organ donations are especially imperative for the black community. Black people dont like to donate organs and thats why its such a great shortage of organs. We have more failures percentage wise than anyone else, said Garth. He continued, The press has a responsibility to educate people on what they should be doing, he said. Garth has had a few potential donors throughout his journey; however, he met Celeste Hart earlier this year during a newspaper convention in New York. Hart, a writer from Charlotte, NC found Garth to be a very special person upon their acquaintance.

Hart believes divine intervention led her to meet Garth, I think it was God, she said. She added, I would have never considered it [on my own], Hart said about agreeing to be a kidney donor. Hes on dialysis three days a week and hes tired but he wants to live he has so much more work to do, Hart said. In regards to helping Garth, Hart believes, Im my brothers keeper, she said. The black community can learn a great deal about organ donations by going through the process, be a donor and tell someone else, she said. The journey is especially meaningful to Hart because in the process she has learned her own health is sound. It [the process] is making me more aware of my health issues and what I need to do to stay healthy. In order to extinguish her fears; Hart puts her faith in God. She is anticipating life post surgery. [I am] excited to see what my donation will do for this man, she said. Hart is optimistic about she and Garths recovery. I think we will be OK in a few months and will encourage other folks to donate, said Hart.

As of August of this year, nearly 108,000 people were on the life saving organ transplant waiting list nationally. More than 80,000 of them need a kidney transplant. In an effort to raise awareness about organ donation on a national scale, the National Donor Sabbath (NDS) began in 1997.

NDS is a three-day event part of an organ donation initiative launched by the United States Department of Health and Human Services. It is a collaboration of donation and transplant professionals with faith communities and focuses on lifesaving and enhancing gifts of organ, tissue and blood stem cell donation. The holiday season was picked for NDS because, the season for giving was a good time to do it, said Joy Demus, public health analyst, at the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). She continued, It started because a lot of people around the country ask the faith community for help, she said. Currently in Illinois, there are more than 4,700 men, women and children awaiting organ transplants. In Chicago it would be someone from the Gift of Hope, which is the organ procurement organization for Chicago, Demus said. The Gift of Hope is a federally designated non-profit agency that coordinates organ and tissue donation and supports families of donors in the northern three-quarters of Illinois and northwest Indiana. Though the surgery is a huge part of receiving a kidney, the aftermath is even greater. As with any organ transplant, after the surgery is a very critical time because it is important to see if the body accepts or rejects the new organ. [Doctors want to make sure] the kidney is working. Thats what they are most concerned about after the [operation], said Garth. Ultimately, Garth wants individuals especially the black community to be aware of the strength in numbers it has in mobilizing resources for more organ donations because, Saving another life is very important, he said. The kidney transplant is planned for Jan. 2011.

For more information on becoming an organ donor, log on to www.LifeGoesOn.com.

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