Ossining Community Leaders Urge Residents to Donate on 3rd Annual Organ Donor Day

From the Town of Ossining: The Town and Village of Ossining are joining forces with LiveOnNY to make a difference in the lives of New Yorkers by participating in the 3rd Annual Organ Donor Enrollment Day.

“Once again, we are working with multiple stakeholders in Ossining to see if we can make a dent in the numbers of enrollees in our area who are willing to pay it forward,” said Town of Ossining’s Supervisor, Dana Levenberg. “My father recently passed away from kidney failure after spending two years on dialysis so this issue is near and dear to my heart,” she added. “By working together to let people know how they can extend the lives of others with the stroke of a pen, we think here in Ossining we can really start to make a difference.”

“I wasn’t an organ donor before. I was under the impression that if you were involved in a big accident and you were an organ donor they might not let you live, in order to take your organs,” said Reverend Luis DeJesus, of Iglesia Mana de Vida Eterna Church in Ossining. “But once I saw my wife get a kidney, she was on the list for 5 years, and she got a kidney and she got it on my birthday, I changed my opinion. Now I feel that everyone should be an organ donor, just to give people a second chance at life if they need them. My wife, Wanda DeJesus, needed a kidney in 2003. She did peritoneal dialysis at home and everywhere we went we carried boxes of peritoneal fluids. It was so great to see her get a second chance at life with the kidney transplant, so we longer had to do that. Now she can live a normal life--even though she has doctors’ appointments and takes medications to keep the kidney going, she has life! We celebrated our 20th year anniversary instead of our 25th because we didn’t know if we were going to make it. But it was a beautiful thing that we did! Now we are going onto 32 years of marriage.”Reverend DeJesus was born and raised in Ossining, moved to Florida in 2001, and just moved back.

With support from the Ossining Public Library, the offices of NYS Assemblywoman Sandy Galef, NYS Senator David Carlucci, and County Legislator Catherine Borgia, the Ossining Volunteer Ambulance Corps, and the Ossining Police Department, “Team Ossining” is looking to make a significant local impact on the national registry.

“Ossining is full of caring generous people who are committed to helping others. Last year on this day dozens of Ossining folks enrolled to be organ donors. I look forward to welcoming even more people today,” said Village of Ossining Mayor Victoria Gearity.

To kick off this important day, Supervisor Levenberg was joined at Ossining Village/Town Hall by Ossining’s elected representatives and community leaders, including NYS Assemblywoman Sandy Galef, Westchester County Board of Legislators Majority Leader Catherine Borgia, Village of Ossining Mayor Victoria Gearity, Town Council Member and District Representative for NYS Senator David Carlucci Kim Jeffrey, and Dr. Amy Friedman the EVP and Chief Medical Officer of LiveOnNY.

Elizabeth Blye, whose mother, Shelley Blye, received a life saving transplant 10 years ago, also spoke passionately about the impact organ donation has had on her mother’s and her own life. Reading a statement from her mother, Shelley, Ms. Blye relayed this inspirational message: “I hoped for five years that I would have the chance to receive a liver, after having tried every drug and procedure to help me get the gift of life. I have had nine (ten this February) cancer free, wonderful years thanks to the family that made the choice to become an organ donor! It truly is miraculous!” Ms. Blye is a Library Media Specialist in the Ossining Union Free School District, and is helping coordinate enrollments from teachers and faculty throughout all of Ossining schools today.

“I have always thought that New York was such a leader in most things, but in organ donation, we are ranked 50th out of 50 states. According to Donate Life New York State, Westchester County was ranked 52nd and Putnam County was ranked 27th out of 62 counties within the State of New York,” said Assemblywoman Sandy Galef. “We can, and need, to do better. Reminders of how we give life to others are key to improving our ranking as a state.”

“Organ Donor Enrollment Day is about getting New Yorkers to take action and show their support for organ donation. Today we encourage everyone to sign up as an organ donor to help save the lives of the 10,000 New Yorkers who are currently on the waiting list,” said Dr. Amy Friedman, EVP and Chief Medical Officer of LiveOnNY which is the nonprofit, federally designated organ procurement organization (OPO) for New York

City, Long Island, and the lower Hudson Valley organizing this effort throughout the region. Every 18 hours, a New Yorker dies waiting for an organ transplant. A contributing factor to this statistic is that there are not enough New Yorkers registered as organ donors. Studies show that 92% of New Yorkers support organ donation, but only 30% of New Yorkers are registered organ donors. This brings New York in at 50th place in the United States in terms of enrolled organ donors. This is especially troubling at a time when 120,000 Americans are waiting for an organ transplant and almost 10,000 of those are New Yorkers. To help change this, “Team Ossining” is one of many teams throughout the New York metropolitan area participating in the third annual Organ Donor Enrollment Day. This event is being executed with one goal in mind: enroll as many willing New Yorkers as possible as organ donors in a single day. One organ donor can save up to eight lives. Last year, Team Ossining registered just over 90 people as organ donors right here in the community, and they are aiming to beat that record this year.

For those not yet registered as organ donors, today is the day to get registered. Team Ossining has organized various sites for people to register, including the Ossining Community Center and the Ossining Public Library. Karen LaRocca-Fels, Library Director of the Ossining Public Library said, “Libraries are about learning, and we are happy to help people learn more about organ donation and register this afternoon at the Ossining Public Library.” Team Ossining has also partnered with local businesses and organizations who have offered their store or place of business, including Walgreens and CVS, as well as on Main Street in front of Open Door Family Medical Center. Grace Battaglia, Director of Marketing & Community Relations at Open Door Family Medical Center, encouraged people to come to Open Door and register as an organ donor, “Organ Donation is truly lifesaving and Open Door is pleased to support the Town of Ossining’s efforts to promote it in our community.

We will have information available at 165 Main Street from 10AM to 4 PM.” Walgreens staff members are also helping at that location, and Walgreens is an important partner in Organ Donor Enrollment Day, offering up various locations in the five boroughs and Westchester for potential enrollees. The staff in the Town/Village Clerk’s Office and NYS Assemblywoman Sandy Galef’s office will also have enrollment cards for anyone interested. See below for addresses. Teachers and staff of the Ossining Union Free School District can register at their school as they sign in for the day. Team Ossining will also be collecting batteries and flashlights at all locations to be donated to Puerto Rico to assist all those impacted by the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria. All locations are open from 10am – 4pm, and are in Ossining, unless otherwise noted:

• Ossining Community Center, 95 Broadway
• Walgreens, 78 Croton Avenue
• CVS Pharmacy, 1856 Pleasantville Road, Briarcliff Manor
• Open Door Family Medical Center, 165 Main Street
• Assemblywoman Sandy Galef’s District Office, 2 Church Street
• Ossining Municipal Building, Clerk’s Office, 16 Croton Avenue (8:30am – 4:30pm)
• Ossining Public Library, 53 Croton Avenue (4pm – 6pm)
• Ossining Union Free School District Schools – for teachers and staff to enroll (during school hours)

Team Ossining is hoping to be the #1 organization in the greater New York metropolitan area to enroll the most New Yorkers. Everyone can help Ossining and New York rise to the challenge. Team Ossining encourages neighbors and friends, employees and business owners to participate, have fun, and work together to drive enrollments. Together Team Ossining believes it can help save even more lives!

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