Live On Nebraska

Today, we celebrate Juneteenth! African Americans make up 13% of the U.S. population, but 28% of those are waiting for an organ transplant. Dr. Velma Scantlebury, the first African American female transplant surgeon in the U.S., reminds us: "Increasing organ donation in minority communities is not just about numbers—it's about saving lives and giving hope to families." Your decision to sign up as a donor can save lives and bring hope to those on the transplant waiting list and their families. 💙💚 Thank you to for creating the artwork to educate, honor, and celebrate Juneteenth.

Wishing all the fathers and father-figures a very Happy Father's Day today!🎉

📣 Win a Good Guys Save Lives T-shirt! 👕

In celebration of Men's Health Week and Father's Day, we're giving away five Good Guys Save Lives t-shirts. Comment below with a picture of your good guy and what makes him special. We'll draw five winners from all the responses on Monday, June 17 at noon.

And thank you to our t-shirt models and Good Guys Save Lives campaign participants Justin, George, Brad, Jeff and Jim, who each have special connections to donation and have been helping us spread the Donate Life message since January.

Following a successful liver transplant on May 31, 2024, Missouri Veteran Mr. Orville Duane Allen, became the oldest donor hero in the US at 98 years old! 👏💙💚

Read more at

Southeast Missouri Veteran Becomes Oldest Donor Hero on Record | The Organ Donation and Transplantation Alliance From Mid-America Transplant – After a long life of heroic service to his country and community, Mr. Orville Duane Allen and his family made one final act of service –...

We invite YOU to join Live On Nebraska for a book signing and meet-and-greet with Dr. Keith Vrbicky and Leo Adam B**a, co-authors of Forever Grateful: The Gift of New Life from Organ Donation!

For more information, visit our website:
https://liveonnebraska.org/event/book-signing-with-keith-vrbicky/

More than 64,000 men are currently on the national transplant waiting list, and 86% of them are waiting for a kidney. You can help – register your decision to be an organ, eye and tissue donor today!

Happy National Best Friends Day! Such a beautiful story💙💚

Who you love doesn't change your ability to save lives through organ donation. 💙💚🏳️‍🌈

In the community, love is love. Who you love doesn't change your ability to save lives through organ donation. Register your decision to be a donor at RegisterMe.org or in your iPhone Health App.
💜💙💚💛🧡❤️🖤🤎🩵🩷🤍

"My dad was the recipient of two kidney transplants. The first in 1976, he was the 200th transplant in Iowa City, as they did not do transplants yet in Nebraska. The second was in 1988. At the time, we were not given donor information, but were able to piece together the first kidney came from a middle school boy and the second from a high school girl. Though we were not able to thank the families in person or through a letter, my dad prayed for his donors and their families every day. When my dad passed away in 1998, I took over praying for the 2 families who were so selfless and generous during such a tragic time in their lives. They gave us 22 extra years with our dad and we will forever be grateful."

- Karen, Recipient family member

Karen and her family continue to honor their father and spread donation awareness with Donate Life License plates, customized with his initials and his badge number. 💚💙

Stop by and say hello this Saturday at the North Omaha Community Care Council, UNMC Center for Reducing Health Disparities, and Clair Memorial United Methodist Church's Lot-to-Know Block Party.

UNMC Center for Reducing Health Disparitiesis collaborating with the North Omaha Community Care Council to host the third annual Lot-to-Know Block Party & Dove Release event on Saturday, May 25.

It will run from noon to 4 p.m. at Clair Memorial United Methodist Church, 5544 Ames Ave.

The Lot-to-Know event is a free community event in which local non-profit organizations and community partners celebrate the community.

It also serves as a memorial for those who have lost their lives to COVID-19. A dove release as a memorial to those lost will be held at 2 p.m.

The event will feature local resource vendors, free health screenings, free food, free gently used clothing and household supplies, live music, games, raffles, free face painting and balloons for kids and free massages.

Check out how recipient Sherrell celebrated month last month! We love these Donate Life treats!💙💚

Thank you CHI Health St. Francis for honoring donors and their families!

Check out these awesome custom Live On Nebraska license plates on donor family member, Zachariah Osburn's remote control cars! Zachariah had these plates made as a tribute to the loss of his spouse and to subtly spread the message of donation at RC shows.

Sharing what his wife's donation means to him, Osburn says, "Knowing that her choice to donate helped 3 people right away to get to have another holiday, birthday, trip to the park, or chance to tell their children another story about their life brought me some comfort". Zachariah describes his spouse Savanna as the person to always care for others, adding that "Her choice to donate proved what I already knew- she was one of the most caring and selfless people".

What a special way to honor a donor and loved one💚💙

Each month, donor family members, living donors and recipients speak to our newly-hired employees about their connection to donation, inspiring them for the work they will do at Live On Nebraska.

In April, Renee Bayer, donor family member, John Rod, heart recipient, and Sue Ventiecher, living kidney donor, shared their thoughts.

"On October 29, we said goodbye to my father, but everyone else got to say hello," Renee said during the panel.

Later, John added, "I cherish every day that I'm here."

We are thankful for these Live On Nebraska ambassadors and all they do to share awareness of donation!

Mark your calendars for the SOCC Health Fair on May 11! We welcome families to join us for resources, raffles, and more🎉

“No matter what happened, my kidneys were going to fail. That’s what the doctors told me. It was just a matter of time. So, I would either need dialysis or transplant," Buchli said.

In August 2020, Karie received the news that there was a compatible kidney for transplant. Post-transplant, she was able to see her children graduate and her daughter get married!

Read more about Karie Buchli's kidney transplant journey here...

‘My kidneys were going to fail, that’s what the doctors told me,’: How a kidney transplant saved a life In 2016, Karie Buchli went to get her bloodwork done. When she left, she felt perfectly fine.

Last Friday, Live On Nebraska volunteers and students and staff from Friend Public School teamed up to help pediatric transplant recipients. The students heard about the impact of donation and transplantation from volunteer family members and recipients while together making tie blankets for kids waiting for and recovering from transplants. With the help of the Friend community, the students donated 54 blankets, 301 books, and 165 other gifts for patients at Nebraska Medicine

I received a full liver on February 20, 2023.

For almost two years I became more and more ill as the days went on. I had testing and bloodwork done many times. My biggest complaint was I could not catch my breath, but my lungs looked great.

After almost losing complete mobility and an extremely low blood pressure, I was admitted. After a few days, I was told I needed a liver transplant, and to find a liver match for me was grim. I was very ill and there was concern if a liver wasn't found quickly I'd be too sick to withstand the transplant. At that time, my survival rate for 3-5 months was 50%. I can only imagine what my family and friends went through.

A liver was found within 30 hours, and as I awoke on the ventilator and saw my family again, I experienced a feeling of happiness and excitement I cannot explain. I truly am a walking miracle.

Because of a choice by my donor and their family to see it through, I am here to tell my story, be an advocate for donation and carry on with a part of my donor hero keeping me strong. I will forever be grateful for this choice made by this person and saying "Thank You" to the family will never be enough. Someday I hope to meet them and tell them personally how grateful I am. I will continue to honor my donor in various ways, and hopefully make the family proud of the lives saved and carried on as they miss their loved one.

I get more time as a wife, mom, grandmother, friend and advocate for transplant donors and recipients, all because of a choice made by my hero.

Living On as a Transplant Warrior,

Wendi

And now for the winning butterflies created by organizations. Congratulations to CHI Health St. Elizabeth for receiving the most votes and Howard County Medical Center for placing second. The staff favorite award goes to Hot Shops Art Center. In our eyes, all the butterflies are winners and we thank everyone for contributing to the success of this year's Butterfly Project!

Congratulations to Lizzie Flower and Deanna Harvey for being the top two vote-getters for butterflies created by individuals. In addition, Live On Nebraska employees voted and chose Vikki Henry's butterfly as the staff favorite.

Thank you to everyone who created a butterfly and voted in the contest! Your creativity and support have helped share the Donate Life message far and wide.

In 2019, Raegan was diagnosed with kidney disease. After a doctor’s appointment revealed she had high blood pressure, lab work followed, indicating Raegan has low kidney function.

In early 2023, Dr. Taylor from Children’s Hospital started to discuss with us dialysis vs. transplant. Once her kidney function is too low, she will need assistance to clean the toxins out of her body. She would need dialysis. However, dialysis is hard on your body, and not something anyone wants to do. The other option is a transplant, which is what we are currently hoping for.

Raegan is a very active 14-year-old and loves sports. She plays volleyball and basketball. She is spunky and always has a positive attitude, and will not let anything bring her down.

- Jessica, Raegan's mom

We're still reminiscing about our Donate Life Blue & Green Day Celebration. Thanks to everyone who joined us for a festive evening of games, music, art, stories and fireworks on the Riverfront.

We want to give one last shoutout to DJ Patrick of P-H Productions, LLC and our sponsors Nebraska Medicine, Lutz and AM Freight, as well as all the volunteers who helped make the event possible. We can't wait for next year!

Thanks to CBrownsenPhotography for the amazing photos!

One photo. Three donors.

Live On Nebraska ambassador Sue Venteicher shared this family photo taken before her daughter Jordan's c-section earlier this month. Jordan and her husband Kelly welcomed a healthy baby boy, Daniel Patrick.

Each person pictured has given the gift of life.

Sue (left) is a living organ donor; she donated a kidney in 2017. Jordan (middle) became a tissue donor following delivery when she donated her birth tissue. And Kelly (right), was a living donor 25 years ago when he donated bone marrow to his little brother who had leukemia. Kelly’s brother is alive and well today.

One picture. Three heroes.

Donate Life America

🦋💚Get your votes in! You have until 5:00 p.m. today to vote for your favorite butterfly created by community members💚🦋

🦋Today is your last chance to vote for your favorite organizational butterflies! Voting ends at NOON, so spread the word and encourage others to vote too!🦋