Donate Life North Carolina (Donate Life NC)

Hello,

My name is Kevin Slinkman and I should not be alive.  I was suffering from severe heart failure what saved me was a heart donor.  I am one of the lucky ones receiving a heart 5 years ago. In 2019, nearly 40,000 transplants brought a renewed life to patients and their families and communities.  According to Donate Life North Carolina over 110,000 people are on donor waiting lists.  Another person is added to the nations organ transplant waiting list every 10 minutes.  Sadly, 8000 people die each year waiting for a life saving organ.  That works out to approximately 22 people a day die waiting for an organ.  The day that I received in my heart another person received a look part of the liver and another person received a kidney that evening.  All from the same donor.

 

Those are the statistics.  Let me tell you something on a more human side of donation.  Do you remember the movie it’s a wonderful life?  Just like George Bailey my life affected so many people.  My wife was suffering from retinopathy.  The treatment included injections correct directly into the eye.  I was there to comfort her and hold her hand while she was going through that.  A member my family was fighting substance abuse.  I was able to give my support for this person.  I am a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars honor guard.  Because of the Cove in 19 pandemic the United States military is unable to perform military honors at burials.  As a member of the VFW honor guard I was able to ensure that these veterans received proper military honors.  Also, as a member of the VFW I help to raise awareness for veteran causes and patriotism as well as raise money for veterans in need.  All this because someone donated their heart to me.  Now think about the other people that received donations that evening.  The kidney and the liver.  How many lives did that affect?

 

So why am I writing you?  Next September I’m embarking on a challenge riding my bicycle up Mount Mitchell.  At 6578 feet above sea level Mount Mitchell is the highest peak east of the Rocky Mountains Why my doing this.  By doing this one simple feat I’m showing how strong an organ recipient is and how much they can give.  I would like to tell my story and how important organ donation is to your organization. 

I also have a goal of raising $6,578 for Donate Life North Carolina.  Donate Life North Carolina is a collaborative group of organizations that promote eye, organ, and tissue donation. Working together, the member organizations are directly involved in supporting donor families and facilitating organ, eye and tissue transplants across the state.  As a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, our work includes school education, Division of Motor Vehicles outreach and donor registry supervision. Our mission is to inspire all North Carolina residents to save and enhance lives by registering as organ, eye, and tissue donors.

 

Please help me in my adventure.

I’m hosting a fundraising event at Fullsteam Brewery  to celebrate my 50th  birthday in August to officially kick off Donate Life NC ’s fundraising campaign.  We're asking those who attend on August 27 to make a financial contribution to Donate Life NC in lieu of gifts to me.  If you can't join us, you can make a contribution here!

We’re having the event at Fullsteam because their Chief Executive Optimist, Sean Lilly Wilson , is a grateful kidney transplant recipient, thanks to a living donation by his beautiful wife, Carolyn.  We’ll share a bit about the impact of our work at Donate Life NC, but mostly we’ll be celebrating the gift of life.

And, in the spirit of friendly challenges, please reach out to your circle and ask them to match what you do, or to at least support the event and help spread the word, in an effort to make this a huge success for Donate Life NC, as we move our mission of education, outreach and advocacy for organ, cornea and tissue donation forward. 

Today there are 3,141 North Carolinians on the national transplant waiting list.  On average 22 people die each day waiting for a transplant, yet one donor can save up to 8 lives and improve the quality of life for up to 50 more!

I would be thrilled for you to join us as we kick-off fundraising for Donate Life NC and to celebrate my “big 5-0.”