San Antonio, Texas, July 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SAN ANTONIO, TX (July 29, 2022) – Today, Texas Organ Sharing Alliance (TOSA), the organ donation organization serving Central and South Texas, is unveiling a new campaign dedicated to inspiring multicultural communities to recognize the power within them to save lives.
The campaign is called Da Esperanza, Da Vida, which means Give Hope, Give Life and was created to offer hope to the thousands of people on the organ transplant waiting list. The initiative is also focused on educating Texans about the importance of being registered donors with Donate Life Texas.
TOSA’s new effort launch is part of National Minority Donor Awareness Month (NMDAM), which starts Aug. 1. In Texas, more than 10,000 children and adults need an organ transplant and while half of those people are from multicultural communities, minorities only represent a small percentage of registered donors.
The campaign was inspired by a mural, which can be seen in TOSA’s headquarters, painted by San Antonio artist Crystal Tamez at the end of 2021. The woman featured on the mural is named Esperanza, or Hope in English, and she represents the hope donors offer recipients through organ donation.
“Everything about this mural and campaign represents who we are as a community and an organization,” said TOSA President & CEO Joseph Nespral. “It’s such a beautiful testament to the power of organ donation, and shows that together, as a community, we can change lives.”
Esperanza can be viewed as either donating or receiving a heart, standing in front of a gold ring wearing a headdress of flowers and surrounded by vines. These symbols are representative of the arch of light meant to inspire the community while the flowers and vines pay homage to the selfless donors and the passion and dedication of TOSA’s staff, who also helped in painting the mural.
The need for organ donation and transplantation is more pronounced in minority communities where disproportionately higher rates of diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease contribute to organ failure, especially kidney failure. Today, 40 percent of the patients on the waiting list in Texas are Hispanic while 25 percent are Black.
Studies show that transplants where the donor and recipient come from the same ethnic background have a higher chance of survival. If more people from minority communities donate, more people from those same communities can get the transplant they need to survive.
As part of this new campaign, TOSA will be participating in many community activities in Central and South Texas to provide vital education and help individuals sign up to save lives. Texans are encouraged to get the facts and sign up to Donate Life at TOSA1.org.
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Texas Organ Sharing Alliance (TOSA), founded in 1975, is one of 57 federally-designated Organ Procurement Organizations (OPOs) in the United States. TOSA is committed to a mission of saving lives through the power of organ donation by providing organ donation and recovery services to Central and South Texans wishing to donate, and to those waiting for a life-saving organ transplant.
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