We challenged our youth to come up with creative campaigns to educate their peers and encourage organ donor registrations. We received impressive applications from individuals across the province and we're excited to announce and share projects from our two successful recipients.
Jayden's personal drive to making her campaign a success was hearing the heartbreaking news that her best friend and grandmother Debbie needed a kidney transplant.
Jayden was motivated to create and share a poster displaying a QR code for people to easily register as an organ donor. She started the project by printing and putting up 25 posters around her school.
She then took this a step further by posting her project on the local community event Facebook page which garnered an immediate show of support from members. This positive response was a catalyst to her big idea, which was to approach local businesses to pitch the prospect of hanging her poster in store windows.
Jayden's poster was successfully hung at 26 different locations around Quesnel and gained praise from her local MLA the President of Quesnel's Rotary Club, the former mayor and many fellow British Columbians.
Shortly after, Jayden received good news that her grandmother was scheduled for a kidney transplant, but she says her project is far from finished. As Jayden enters Media Studies at UBC in the fall, she says, "I plan to continue spreading awareness for organ donation registration well into my future, as I hold it very close to my heart."
Cameron hit the ground running with his project ideas and the momentum it achieved even surprised him. He started out with an information and registration table at his school, helping to promote Green Shirt Day and organ donation among students. In tandem, he emailed a PowerPoint presentation to 80 teachers and staff at Nanaimo District Secondary, asking for them to have a conversation with their classes about organ donation alongside submissions for the school newsletter, PA announcements and social media posts. Cameron made similar efforts at Island ConnectEd (ICE) where he takes online classes.
Cameron reached out to additional schools in Nanaimo and spoke with local radio and TV stations, newspapers, online magazines and community boards. Some notable highlights of his campaign include confirming the Nanaimo Bastion to light up green, a media feature on CTV Vancouver Island News, a story in Nanaimo News Now and radio interviews with The Wolf and The Wave.
Cameron's organ donation awareness campaign was motivated by an in-depth conversation with his father's cousin Ron, who received a kidney transplant earlier this year.
Cameron, who will be studying Kinesiology at UVIC in the fall, leaves us with these thoughtful words, "In the beginning, my intent was to organize a small event at my school. However, my passion for the cause grew as I learned about Logan Boulet's selfless altruism. So when you see a green shirt or beautiful green lights on local buildings like the Bastion at night in April, please share with others that it stands for giving hope and sharing life through organ and tissue donation."
This year's scholarships were made possible through a generous donation on behalf of BCT volunteer Freddie Marsh and partial proceeds from the sales of BC Transplant's face masks.
