Faith-specific pro-donation brochures to be distributed across the Greater Toronto Area
TORONTO, Sept. 17 /Canada NewsWire/ -
Today, Trillium Gift of Life Network (TGLN) in partnership with the Canadian Council of Imams, the Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto and the Toronto Board of Rabbis, launched an unprecedented coordinated awareness building effort on the need for organ and tissue donation that demonstrates common ground amongst diverse faiths. It's a major step to encourage more Ontarians to register consent for organ and tissue donation at a time when approximately 1,700 people are waiting for organs and thousand more are waiting for tissue.
This is the first time multiple faith groups in Canada have distributed brochures to their respective faith communities to support consideration of organ and tissue donation. In addition to distributing pro-donation brochures, faith leaders will be speaking to their congregations over the coming days and weeks on the topic.
Working in partnership with faith leaders, TGLN has developed and implemented initiatives to encourage and empower donation in faith communities. Initiatives include: masses in honour of donor families, faith focused pro-donation brochures and sermons supporting organ donation.
The Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto is distributing 200,000 new brochures in support of organ and tissue donation to 235 parishes across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) on September 20th. The Catholic Archdiocese have also dedicated a page on their website to organ donation.
The Canadian Council of Imams, in partnership with the North American Muslim Foundation, has mailed brochures about the Islamic perspective on donation to 45,000 Muslim households in the GTA. Also, prayer calendars for Ramadan include pro-donation messages and GTA Imams have been encouraged to speak about the issue during Ramadan.
The Toronto Board of Rabbis is releasing an updated version of its brochure supporting organ and tissue donation targeting Toronto's Jewish community. Also, many Rabbis across the GTA will include pro-donation messages at their synagogues.
In February 2009, TGLN, in partnership with the Nishnawbe Aski Nation, launched a pro donation brochure that was distributed to 49 First Nations communities in June.
You can register your consent to donate your organs and tissue by visiting your local Service Ontario Health Card Services - OHIP office or outreach centre where you renew your health card. You can also register by downloading and filling out a Gift of Life Consent Form from www.giftoflife.on.ca and mailing it to the address on the form.
