OCTOBER 27, 2005

Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land today honored the Gift of Life Michigan Donor Family Advisory Committee and a Sterling Heights mother with Shining Star awards for outstanding work in promoting organ, tissue and eye donation.

During a news conference at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Land commended the 16 families of the advisory committee and Sterling Heights resident Cindy Giannini for their hard work and dedication in making a difference in the lives of others.

"Organ and tissue donation can be the gift of life to someone who is critically ill and waiting for a transplant," Land said. "The efforts of the Donor Family Advisory Committee and Cindy Giannini have transformed lives. Although they have all lost loved ones, they have turned their grief into a powerful tool for good through organ and tissue donation. As a result, their insights, experiences and understanding have encouraged them to reach out and help others in similar situations. I am honored to present them with the Shining Star award."

Established in 1992, the Gift of Life Michigan Donor Family Advisory Committee has grown from six families to 16, each of whom has experienced the death of a loved one and chose to donate his or her organs and tissues.

The committee has been instrumental in establishing a number of innovative programs and services, including a peer network to help bereaved families and a thank-you card program allowing newly transplanted recipients to express their gratitude to their donor’s family.

Giannini, a surgical assistant at the hospital, made the selfless decision to donate her son’s organs after his death in 2002 from a degenerative bone-wasting disease. Less than six months later, Giannini began volunteering with Gift of Life Michigan. Giannini has shared her son’s story with parishioners at her church, staffed information tables to distribute organ donor enrollment cards and arranged for the Giving Tree display in Beaumont Hospital’s lobby.

Giannini and the Donor Family Advisory Committee were nominated for the award by Gift of Life Michigan.

"It is the compassion and generosity of people like Cindy Giannini and the members of the Donor Family Advisory Committee that make the gift of life possible," said Tom Beyersdorf, executive director of Gift of Life Michigan. "Their selfless decisions to give the gift of life to others at a time of deepest grief is truly compassionate."

The Shining Star award is the latest organ donor initiative undertaken by the Department of State. The department also has a primary role in collecting names for Michigan’s organ, tissue and eye donor registry through its online enrollment program at www.Michigan.gov/sos. Donor cards are also available in branch offices and are mailed with driver’s licenses and state identification cards.

Other organ donor programs supported by the department include Buddy Week, an event held each April in which Gift of Life Michigan and Michigan Eye-Bank volunteers meet with the public at Secretary of State branch offices to discuss organ and tissue donation. Land also encourages continued organ donor awareness through her Organ and Tissue Donor Advisory Committee and by fostering active partnerships with organ donor advocates statewide.

For more information about the Shining Star award and other Department of State organ donor programs, please visit www.Michigan.gov/sos.

List of the Donor Family Advisory Committee members

Please contact Tamara Havermahl, public education director for Gift of Life Michigan, at (800) 482-4881 for complete addresses and telephone numbers.

Joe & Nancy Alger
Jackson
Jackson County

Connie Ayres
Davison
Genesee County

Nancy Blodgett
Kalamazoo
Kalamazoo County

Nancy Eluskie
River Rouge
Wayne County

Rick & Lori Fall
Beaverton
Gladwin County

Barbara & Dave Gerber
Trenton
Wayne County

Cindy Giannini
Sterling Heights
Macomb County

Cynthe Grey
Redford
Wayne County

Jayne Griffor-Parson
St. Clair Shores
Macomb County

Patricia Jo Herndon
Chelsea
Washtenaw County

Sharon & Ray Kelly
Trenton
Wayne County

Edith Lee-Payne
Detroit
Wayne County

Karen Morey
Wayne
Wayne County

Max & Gloria Schindler
Gladwin
Gladwin County

Chet & Jeanne Szuber
Berkley
Oakland County

Donna Vandenberg
Britton
Lenawee County