Organ Buddies Transplant Greeting Cards connect recipients and donor families

June 24, 3:53 PMOrgan and Tissue Donor ExaminerCathy Doheny

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Holiday transplant greeting card - graphics by Adrianne Schoen*

Organ Buddies, Inc. offers a line of greeting cards that helps to connect transplant recipients and their donors or their donor families. Founded by Lee Downing, a 21-year liver transplant veteran, the organization's goal is to facilitate this communication, while promoting organ donor awareness, and provide educational materials to children about organ wellness.

The greeting cards, which come in a set of 8, include cards for Thanksgiving and the holidays, as well as a "second chance transplant anniversary" card, and generic cards. For the past five years, Astrellas Pharma US, Inc. has provided a generous grant to make these cards available to transplant recipients free of charge. The only cost is shipping and handling.

“Over the years, while talking with countless transplant support groups, transplant nurses and social workers, I realized that many transplant recipients do not write a letter or send a card of “thanks” to their donor families largely because they cannot find the appropriate words to write. The greeting cards will alleviate much of the discomfort and awkwardness associated with writing a letter, thus enabling recipients to share an appropriate “thinking of you/thank-you” gesture to donor families” states Organ Buddies founder, Lee Downing.

In addition to the greeting cards, the organization has also provided stuffed "organ buddy" toys in the past to serve as gifts of encouragement to support individuals of all ages through the ordeal of coping with organ transplantation. However, these products are not currently available due to the rise in manufacturing costs. Hopefully, Sidney the Kidney, Oliver the Liver, and Bart the Heart will be making a reappearance soon!

In the meantime, Lee's wife, Felice, is partnering with artist, Mike Lombardo, to produce a children's book that will be launched at the end of the year. The book will help to educate children about organ awareness and healthy habits.

The third edition of the transplant greeting cards will be released by Organ Donor Awareness Week in April of 2010.

 For more info: Transplant Greeting Card order form, Cardinal Essential Rules of Transplantation by Lee Downing

*photo courtesy of Lee Downing