Bonnie Leclerc, on behalf of the Kidney Foundation of Canada, B.C. & Yukon Branch honoured Service B.C. centre staff in Quesnel on Friday with a special Community Leadership Award for their dedication and support of organ donation.
Quesnel was one of several Service B.C. Centres chosen to launch a pilot program which provided information and an easy registration for those wishing to become organ donors.
Up to the end of August, Quesnel staff had registered 279 donors. Province-wide 19,692 citizens had registered their decision to be an organ donor.
Now all 62 Service B.C. Centres provide a central location where people can access information and get answers about organ donation and register as a donor.
“The staff in Quesnel are being recognized for their continued support of this important program and for assisting the citizens in the community register a decision on organ donation,” director of service analytics and standards with the Ministry of Technology, Innovation and Citizens’ Services Perry Slump said.
In addition to the Kidney Foundation of Canada, B.C. & Yukon Branch’s Community Leadership Award, Slump presented the staff with a letter of recognition from the ministry and the B.C. Transplant Society.
Right now there are more than 500 people in B.C. waiting for a life saving organ transplant and almost 400 of those are waiting for a kidney.
Sadly many of these patients will die waiting.
95 per cent of British Columbians say they support organ donation but only 19 per cent have actually registered on B.C.’s organ donor registry. The Kidney Foundation of Canada has committed to increase organ donor registration and kidney transplants by 50 per cent over the next five years.
“The decision to register as a organ donor can mean a second chance at life for multiple individuals – quite possibly for someone in Quesnel,” Slump said.