TRIO Chapter Activity Report
Ventura Chapter - May 2008
Since
our last report to the TRIO National Board on January
12, 2007, our local chapter has continued its various donor awareness
and
support activities in Southern California.
We
currently have an active membership
of approximately 106 paid members.
As in
the past, we continue to work closely with the
major transplant centers in Los Angeles which
include UCLA, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, USC and Saint
Vincent’s Medical Center. We
continue to work with Valerie
Bobry of Pharma Care to promote TRIO activities at the various
hospitals that
Pharma Care covers throughout California.
This
last quarter, our TRIO VCWV Chapter assisted in
support events at UCLA, Cedars, USC and St. Vincent’s Medical Centers.
On May
15, 2008, for the fourth year, we will participate in the
Screen Actors Guild Health Day Event and speak
to the members about organ and tissue donations and TRIO activities.
This
annual event is once again hosted by Glenda Rosenbloom, of our local
TRIO Chapter,
with the able assistance of Jackie Colleran, Ron Taubman, and Anne
Stamm. In
February, 2008, TRIO helped out for the 5th year in running the “Field
of Gold”
event at UCLA where over 600 donor families’ members are honored each
year.
Our
local TRIO Chapter remains active in the
Nationwide Donate Life Hollywood consortium
along with Dr. Susan Morgan of our National TRIO Board of Directors.
Both Susan
Morgan and I sit on the Donate Life Hollywood Advisory Committee. Our
National TRIO Managing Services Director Sylvia
Leach
referred a request for assistance from The Today Show to my attention.
I spoke
to the show producer and she requested that TRIO refer
them to a transplant surgeon to be
include in an interview on Transplantation that will be hold on Friday,
May 16,
2008 on NBC starting at 7:00 AM (EDT). I was able to get Albin Gritsch,
M.D.,
Director of Renal Transplantation at UCLA and a TRIO VCWV Chapter
member of our
Medical Advisory Committee to respond to their request.
TRIO
VCWV Chapter and the Donate Life California
On-Line Donor Registry passed the 3,000,000 driver sign up since the
program
started in June of 2006. TRIO VCWV
Chapter members continue to volunteer to visit the local DMV office on
a
monthly basis in order to keep training
the staff on transplant issues.
On
August 2, 2008, TRIO VCWV Chapter is hosting “A
Night at the Los Angeles Dodgers Game.” We will be traveling to the
game on free buses supplied
by our
local City Councilman. The Dodgers will be promoting this event as a
TRIO VCWV
Chapter donor awareness event to the large crowd expected for this
between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Our
TRIO VCWV Chapter has appointed Debra Reeves, member of our local Board
of Directors and a 20 year recipient of a
liver
transplant, to be our liaison between our local chapter and TRIO
National for
the ITNS TRIO Joint Symposium to be held on September 25-27, 2008 in
St. Louis,
MO.
As an
active and committed TRIO chapter, we are
looking forward to a continued increase in our membership and influence
within
the transplant community through eh end of 2008 and beyond.
Submitted by
Ron Taubman, President
TRIO Ventura County West Valley Chapter
