Organ and tissue donors honored at tree-planting

Intermountain Catholic

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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 — 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 – 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.

"These events are very important; this is a totally new culture for me," said Medina, referring to the fact that when he was younger he never knew about being able to donate organs to save the lives of others.

Attending the event were many children between the ages of 3 and 14, giving Medina tremendous joy.

"To see all these kids here is great. We are teaching our new generations and they grasp the concept naturally," he said. "I am very proud of all of these kids."

The Catholic Church supports organ and tissue donation.

"The Catechism of the Catholic Church states ‘Donation of organs after death is a noble and meritorious act and is to be encouraged as a manifestation of generous solidarity,’" said Father Omar Ontiveros, pastor of Saints Peter and Paul Parish, during a 2011 panel on the issue at the Salt Lake City Library, adding that "it is not morally acceptable if the donor or those who legitimately speak for him have not given their explicit consent."

"Pope Benedict XVI signed up as a donor when he was a cardinal," Fr. Ontiveros pointed out. "In 2008, Pope Benedict said in a papal audience, ‘The act of love, which is expressed with the gift of one’s own vital organs, is a genuine testament of charity that knows how to look beyond death so that life always wins.’"

Among the barriers that people have to putting their names on a donor registry are false ideas and the lack of information, Sen. Robles said at the Utah Cultural Celebration Center event.

"If all these kids here talked about the organ donation at home with their parents, the older people are going to catch the excitement of the children," Medina said.

Johana Portillo-Lopez, daughter of the fallen soccer referee, joined many others to plant trees and recall their loved ones who gave their organs to save lives.

"It makes us feel good, because even though he is not here a lot of lives were saved with this," Portillo said.

Such events help bring the community together in many ways, said Alex McDonald of Intermountain Donor Services. "It feels like their loved ones are still alive and helping others, and that brings a lot of solace to people."