Organ and tissue donors honored at tree-planting

Intermountain Catholic | Laura Vallejo
Photo: Saints Peter and Paul parishioner Antonio Medina, who is on a waiting list for a kidney transplant, helps plant a tree during the July 20 celebration. IC photo/Laura Vallejo
WEST VALLEY CITY â€" On July 20, the planting of a tree and the installing of a bench honoring donors of organ, eye and tissue were dedicated in a ceremony at the Utah Cultural Celebration Center in West Valley City.

Dozens of people celebrated the day, invited by Intermountain Donor Services, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promote the organ donation. The tree planting kicked off National Minority Donor Awareness Week, which is intended to educate minorities of the need for organ donation and transplantation within the multicultural community.

Among the many who gathered to plant trees and remember their loved ones who gave their organs to save lives were Utah State Sen. Luz Robles; family members of Ricardo Portillo, the soccer referee who was fatally punched in the face in May and whose organs were donated after his death; and Antonio Medina, a Saints Peter and Paul parishioner.

For Medina, the occasion was more than a great educational experience â€" this type of event holds hope for him, because for more than five years he has been on a waiting list for a kidney transplant.
______________________________________________________ 
"You have the power to SAVE lives." 
To register as a donor TODAY
In California: 
www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org | www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org 
Outside California: 
www.organdonor.gov | www.donatelife.net

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