One day after surgery, Charla Martin (left) celebrates the successful donation of one of her kidneys to her friend, Jill Collins (right).
Interested members of the public are invited to gather with Blessing Health and Gift of Hope Organ and Tissue Donor Network staff at a flag raising to mark Donate Life Month. The flag raising takes place at the flag pole in front of Blessing Hospital at 10 am, Friday, April 12.
Harry Wilkins, MD, former Quincy surgeon and current president of the Gift of Hope Organ and Tissue Donor Network, will speak at the flag raising. Gift of Hope is a not-for-profit organ procurement organization that coordinates organ and tissue donation and services to families of donors in the northern three-quarters of Illinois, including west central Illinois, and northwest Indiana.
Also speaking at the flag raising will be Blessing Health employee Charla Martin, who donated one of her kidneys recently to a childhood friend, Jill Collins.
“Our family motto is ‘Live a Great Story,’” Martin said. “My thinking was that Jill deserved to live a great story, too. But after the transplant was said and done, I realized that I am the winner in all of this. Nothing makes me happier than to see Jill spending time with her family, playing with her dogs, having game night with her girlfriends, and traveling.”
Other Blessing Health employees share personal stories of organ, eye and tissue donation as part of National Donate Life month. The stories will be featured throughout the month at blessinghealth.org/donatelife and on social media platforms including Facebook and Instagram.
During 2023, 21 Blessing Hospital patients donated organs or tissues. Every donor can save 8 lives and enhance over 75 more. More than 103,000 men, women and children are on the transplant waiting list nationwide.
More facts about donation and transplantation and a link to register as a donor are available at
blessinghealth.org/donatelife.