D TOUR Events Drew Potential Donors and Increased Awareness of Organ Donation

(left) D TOUR director Jim Granato and (right) June R. Wallace, Community Affairs Coordinator, California Transplant Donor Network at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center

Throughout the month of September 2009, Community Cinema presented free preview screenings of the documentary D TOUR. Each of the 36 events between September 1 and September 29 connected audience members with information about local organ donation registries and shared the stories of transplant recipients and the donors who saved their lives. The emotionally moving film follows indie rock drummer Pat Spurgeon on a “dialysis tour” as he waits for a kidney transplant match and tours with his band, Rogue Wave.  The film lead to many deeply personal and heartfelt discussions with speakers afterward. Even if you missed one of our events, you can still easily connect with the local donor registry in your area.

And, you should.  The need is dire.  Every 13 minutes another person is added to the national organ transplant waiting list. One in nine American adults— more than 20 million –have kidney disease, and most don’t know it.  Nationally,  about 106,000 people are awaiting transplants of all kinds. In the Puget Sound region around Seattle there are over 1600 people waiting. In the DC area alone, there are nearly 2,000 people waiting desperately for an organ to save or enhance their lives.  More than 3,400 individuals live in the New England region waiting for a life-saving organ transplant.  20,000 people on the wait list live in California.

Every D TOUR event gave audience members a chance to hear the local stories of transplant recipients, donors, doctors, nurses, and/or those living their lives while waiting for a life-saving organ transplant.

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Tags: D Tour, kidney, organ donation, organ donor, transplant

Watch IRANIAN KIDNEY BARGAIN SALE on iTunes

Last month, Community Cinema screened D TOUR, which chronicles musician Pat Spurgeon’s search for a living kidney donor and the challenges associated with finding a viable match.

The screenings brought awareness about the importance of organ donation in the United States. But what is the organ market like in other countries?

This month, check out the ITVS International film IRANIAN KIDNEY BARGAIN SALE, which follows young Iranians through the organ trade process, in the only country in the world where kidney trading is legal.

Download IRANIAN KIDNEY BARGAIN SALE on iTunes >>

Tags: digital, Iran, iTunes, transplant

D TOUR Events Draw Potential Donors and Increase Awareness of Organ Donation

(left) D TOUR director Jim Granato and (right) June R. Wallace, Community Affairs Coordinator, California Transplant Donor Network at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center

Throughout the month of September, Community Cinema presented free preview screenings of the documentary D TOUR. Each of the 36 events between September 1 and September 29 connected audience members with information about local organ donation registries and shared the stories of transplant recipients and the donors who saved their lives. The emotionally moving film follows indie rock drummer Pat Spurgeon on a “dialysis tour” as he waits for a kidney transplant match and tours with his band, Rogue Wave.  The film lead to many deeply personal and heartfelt discussions with speakers afterward. When D TOUR airs nationally on PBS on the Emmy Award winning series Independent Lens on November 10, 2009 (check local listings) you can still easily connect with the local donor registry in your area.

And, you should.  The need is dire.  Every 13 minutes another person is added to the national organ transplant waiting list. One in nine American adults— more than 20 million –have kidney disease, and most don’t know it.  Nationally,  about 106,000 people are awaiting transplants of all kinds. In the Puget Sound region around Seattle there are over 1600 people waiting. In the DC area alone, there are nearly 2,000 people waiting desperately for an organ to save or enhance their lives.  More than 3,400 individuals live in the New England region waiting for a life-saving organ transplant.  20,000 people on the wait list live in California.

Every D TOUR event gave audience members a chance to hear the local stories of transplant recipients, donors, doctors, nurses, and/or those living their lives while waiting for a life-saving organ transplant.

› Continue reading

Tags: D Tour, kidney, organ donation, organ donor, transplant

When Community Cinema Topics Hit Home in D.C.

WRTC partners with multiple public and professional organizations to do its work and to spread awareness that donation saves lives

Michon Boston, ITVS Regional Outreach Coordinator D.C., produces Community Cinema events in the greater DC (and Baltimore) region. I thought it was a tremendously cool thing for the Washington Regional Transplant Community to conduct donor registry drives at our Washington, DC screenings of D TOUR. But here’s where the pressure’s on for me. I am not a registered organ donor.

Just over a month ago one of my cousins had a lung transplant; two years ago another relative passed away waiting for a match for a heart transplant; and this year a friend from my school days married a prominent organ transplant surgeon. Now it’s D TOUR. This is starting to look less like pressure and more like destiny.

John Ogden has been my contact at the Washington Regional Transplant Community (WRTC). WRTC is a federally-designated non-profit organization that facilitates deceased organ and tissue donation and promotes awareness for the need for donors. WRTC coordinates with our local DMVs in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Next year my driver’s license expires, and I’ll have to renew. This is probably a good time to ask John some questions.

What are some of the usual concerns first-time donor registrants have and what words of assurance can you offer?

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Tags: documentary, organ donor, transplant, Washington DC