|
|
|
| Contact: Christine Hill (612) 873-5719 |
03/30/09 |
Teaming up to promote organ donation
No, the church organ isn’t going anywhere – but the Church Basement Ladies are! The Ladies are headed to the big city to help Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) and LifeSource launch National Donate Life Month on Wednesday, April 1.
Hennepin County Medical Center partners with LifeSource Organ and Tissue Donation Services to save lives through organ and tissue donation. LifeSource is a non-profit organization that serves as the “bridge” between donation and transplantation in hospitals throughout the Upper Midwest. Church Basement Ladies 2: A Second Helping, now playing at the Plymouth Playhouse, stars Janet Paone, whose antics as Mrs. Lars Snustad have kept audiences laughing since September 2005.
“In November 2007, my kidneys were failing and I was just one week from beginning dialysis,” explains Paone. “A friend insisted on giving me one of his kidneys. He kept telling me that he only needed one – so why don’t I take the other? Thanks to his generous gift, I’m enjoying a second helping of life. If more people knew how much it can change someone’s life, more people would step forward to be donors.”
Paone’s transplant surgeon, Dr. Mark Odland, Chief of Surgery at HCMC agrees. “Whenever you choose to be an organ donor, you’re giving someone else the chance to enjoy life to its fullest. Choosing to donate makes you a participant in the care of someone who is loved by friends and family, and someone who will never forget how you saved his or her life.”
On April 1 at 9:45 a.m., HCMC and LifeSource will hold a Donate Life flag-raising ceremony at HCMC’s 6th St. entrance. Anyone touched by organ donation (patients, families, caregivers, donors) is invited to attend. After the ceremony, guests will proceed indoors to enjoy coffee and cookies served by the Church Basement Ladies in the HCMC cafeteria. A news conference will take place during morning coffee at 10:15 a.m. with Dr. Mark Odland, Mrs. Lars Snustad (Janet Paone), LifeSource’s Kathy Geist, and others to launch Donate Life Month.
At the conclusion of the event, media are invited to follow the Church Basement Ladies out of the big city and back to the Plymouth Playhouse to prepare for their 1 p.m. matinee performance.
For the last 22 years, Troupe America has operated the Plymouth Playhouse. The Playhouse, now in its 35th year, has been the home of many long-running, award-winning productions. During the month of April, the Playhouse is offering 2 for 1 pricing to those who mention “Donate Life” when ordering tickets to a Friday evening performance of Church Basement Ladies 2: A Second Helping. Organ donation representatives will be available at those performances with information about how to register as an organ donor. Call the box office at 763-553-1600 or visit plymouthplayhouse.com for more information.
Hennepin County Medical Center is a Level 1 Trauma Center and public teaching hospital repeatedly recognized as one of America’s best hospitals by U.S. News & World Report. The centerpiece of Hennepin County’s clinical health services, Hennepin County Medical Center offers a full spectrum of inpatient and outpatient services, including its Transplant Center, which recently celebrated 45 years of providing transplant services to patients and their families.
###
|
|
