How You Can Help

The Rich Griffin #1Saves8 Campaign needs you to do two things in Rich’s memory:

1. Regift Your Life. Be an organ donor. Please register now.
2. Renew Their Hope. Help ease the financial burden Northern Ontario transplant patients face when forced to relocate for this life-saving surgery. Please donate to the Rich Griffin Transplant Assistance Fund at Health Sciences North now.

• There are more than 1,600 people waiting for an organ in Ontario?
• More than 85% of Ontarians are in favour of organ donation, but only 1 in 4 have taken two minutes to register?
• You can save up to 8 lives by giving your heart, 1 or 2 lungs, liver, 1 or 2 kidneys, pancreas, and/or small bowel? Find out more about the transplant process and the criteria that is used to determine who gets your organs.
• Your tissue donations can impact the lives of up to 75 more people? Your corneas, bone, skin, cardiovascular tissue, islet (pronounced “eyelet”) cells of the pancreas, and connective tissue can also be donated.
• You can still have an open casket after donating? See what other myths you may have heard about organ donation and get the facts.

Not comfortable being an organ donor? You can still help. Did you know…

• Organ transplant patients and their families can spend thousands of dollars of their own money while waiting for an organ and during post-transplant care? Many must move to within a two-hour radius of the transplant centres in Toronto, London, and elsewhere to be put on the waiting list. This can mean leaving their jobs and finding affordable housing for themselves and their loved ones while they wait. This can create terrible hardship for families who don’t have the money.
  
• Your financial donation will stay local and help Northern Ontario transplant patients and their families with expenses while they wait for an organ and during follow-up care?
• Your financial donation is tax deductible?

Still have questions or concerns? Find out more about becoming an organ donor or contact us.