Green Shirt Day was amazing in Southern Alberta
What an incredible outpouring of support for Green Shirt Day by Southern Alberta! Our small contingency was met in the Mayor’s Chambers with an open heart and a sincere desire to learn more about organ and tissue donation in Alberta. In our group we represented several sides of the transplant story.
Carli Clemis Bekkering (resident of Lethbridge) is the daughter of two parents who have had transplants- her Dad, Kelly received a double-lung transplant in 2014 at the U of Alberta (sadly, Kelly passed away in 2017). Her Mom, Jan, received a kidney transplant from her brother, Blair, at the Foothills Hospital in 2018.
Julie Wallace (resident of Medicine Hat) tested to be a living donor for Jan Clemis, but in the end, her son, Blair was a closer match. Gwen is a sister-in-law and supportive family member of both Kelly and Jan. Gwen and her husband, Gerald (residents of Redcliff), also made the generous donation to cover the cost of lighting up the Saamis Tepee to commemorate Green Shirt Day in Medicine Hat on April 7th. Jan (of Taber) received a “living donor” kidney transplant from her son, Blair (of Calgary) after 16 months of hemodialysis in Lethbridge. Both Blair and Jan made a full and speedy recovery, and are living full and rich lives now.
The entourage would like to thank Mayor Linnsie Clark and Angela Tully for a warm and sincere welcome, as well as the thoughtful questions regarding Green Shirt Day and organ/tissue donation. We all felt the compassion from Mayor Clark, her interest in our individual connection to transplantation, and her keen desire for more awareness around organ donation in Medicine Hat. One topic we touched on was the importance of sharing your wishes around organ donation with your family and loved ones. Most people are unaware that even if you desire to be an organ donor, it is your family in the end who will make the decisionso please have that important family conversation well in advance. It is best to discuss your wishes in a calm, unhurried manner- around the supper table or on the backyard porch, just as Logan Boulet had done with his father, Toby, the summer prior to the Humboldt Tragedy.
More thanks extented to these Southern Alberta Communities and leaders: Mayor Blaine Hyggen of Lethbridge, Taber Mayor Andrew Prokop, Coaldale Mayor Jack Van Rijn, Medicine Hat Mayor Linnsie Clark and Mayor Chelsae Petovic of Claresholm all made very public displays of support for Green Shirt Day and the support of their communities for organ and tissue donation.
The following Schools also had an outpouring of support for ensuring the preservation of Logan’s Legacy:
Immanuel Chrisitian Schools in Lethbridge, Medicine Hat SD #76,
Dr. Hamman Elementary, WR Myers and other schools from Horizon School Division in Taber, University of Lethbridge Fine Arts Program (who designed the new Green Shirt Day Logo),
Also support shown from Radio Station Country 95.5FM!!
The night of April 7th, the skyline of Medicine Hat was transformed when the spectacular Saamis Tepee was lit green to commemorate Green Shirt Day and all those who were involved in the Humboldt Bus Tragedy. The City of Lethbridge lit both the Yates Theatre and Lethbridge City Hall, and Taber’s Town Office was also decked in Green. Green symbolizes the promise of new life, which Logan Boulet was able to provide to the six people whose lives were saved when he became an organ donor. Becoming an organ donor is a simple, 2-minute, online process. Log onto this website to complete the process (be sure you have your Alberta Health Care Number on hand): myhealth.alberta.ca
Many Green Shirt Day school activities took place across Southern Alberta as well. Great school resources for grades K-12 were provided free of charge by Canadian Blood Services (CBS) to any school requesting them. These handson “organ squishies” as well as colouring sheets, and a Green Shirt Day coin hockey pop-up game introduced the topic of the function of organs and why they are so important to elementary students. This bridges into the need for a new organ if it can be replaced! Free CBS resources are easily accessed on this website: https://orgamites.ca/
On behalf of the Canadian Transplant Association, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to the Communities of Southern Alberta for embracing Green Shirt Day 2022. Any day is a good day to follow the advice found on the front of our Green Shirt Day shirts: REGISTER--TELL YOUR FAMILY---BE INSPIRED The entire month of April is National Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Month. Please consider becoming a living donor (in Southern Alberta call the Foothills Living Donor Program at: (403) 944-4635) or register your wishes to become an organ donor at your passing.
Jan Clemis is a former resident of the Grassy Lake area and now lives in Taber.