AB Government - Bill 207 will force individuals to say yes or no to organ & tissue donation!!

Hello my friends ...

I just thought you might to have a look at this....

let's talk about this with others...

Will  this help or hinder the donation process ??? What do you think??

Last night received an email stating that -

Bill 207 was going to 2nd reading on Monday. - Apparently Minister Dave Hancock, who is the Government House Leader in charge of Legislature business, stood up in the Legislature this afternoon to announce that Bill 207 will be reintroduced next week as a Government Bill.   

 Bill 207 – will force Alberta drivers to make decision on organ & tissue donation.

Section 4 Page 2

4.2(1) When an adult applies to the Registrar of Motor Vehicle Services for issuance or renewal of an operator's licence under the Traffic Safety Act, that adult shall be asked whether her or she consents to the donation of his or her tissue, organs or body in accordance with section 4(1)(a)

 (2) If an adult provides his or her written consent under subsection(1),  the Registrar of Motor Vehicle Services shall

(a) transmit that information to the Alberta Organ and Tissue Donation Agency for inclusion in the online registry, and

(b) affix a sticker in the prescribed form indicating the consent on and area of the operator's licence designated for that purpose.

If yes – names will automatically go into an online donor registry.

Question
How do Albertans feel about this and how will the Alberta donor registry be set up?

Note -

Depending on how the Alberta donor registry is set up, they may or may not have to notify families when harvesting organs or tissues.

My answer 

 Yes to a donor registry, but when it comes to getting organ & tissue donors -

 Educate don't legislate -

Some individuals want to donate but will not put their heir names in a donor registry.

 Don't force individuals to say no to donation!

Maria Stranaghan

Donor mom 1993

Today is the DAY....830 meters so far !!

Well my friends ….as you can imagine ….it’s been a long two years and during these past few days …..I’ve been busy, full, and eventful!

Today I don’t have much time to spend on the computer due to all that is going on. But I wanted to give you a quick update.

Thanks to a loving mom and baba, our birthday boy & liver transplant recipient, 10 year old Darren arrived from Medicine Hat late on Thursday night (May 3^rd)

Then on Friday some got together with some other dear, dear people and we now have 830 meters documented for our banner.

Then yesterday we had a surprise BD party for Darren at our local library…thank you to one and all for helping to make this a special day for Darren and his family.

Now it looks like it will be a beautiful day and we are as ready as we’ll ever be.

OUR PLAN….We start at 1:00

Our dignitaries will say a few words

We add the banner and document the segments that are arriving today.

The parade starts at 2:00 after that our closing ceremonies.

If we don’t have enough people to parade the banner, that banner will be stretched out and will be officially measured by a survey for purposes of the Guinness World Record.  

Now as to what GOD has planned for us we will just have to wait and see.

Take care …God bless and have a great day.

Maria

Who will be at the Banner Parade on May 5th???

Hi again my friends....

This is a good question that I really can't answer.

I do know that we have confirmation from the family of one Canadian transplant recipient from Medicine Hat.

I also know that Bonnie and her son Darin (a nine year old liver recipient)  will be picking up banner segments from those that won't be attending from Calgary and Edmonton. But to date these are the only transplant recipients that have confirmed their attendance.

Then as far as our schools and community goes, I really don't know who will all be at this event -

I do know that we will have confirmation from 3 of our local teachers. But since the parade is on a Sunday we have no way of knowing if the families of the students will be bringing their children.

Because of this, I got up this morning and started to send this email to all of our local schools and I also sent it to everyone on my mailing list.

So here's to keeping ones fingers, toes and nose hairs crossed ...lol...geeezzzz...what do I get myself into????

Take care God bless and have a great day.

Maria


Note sent to schools - media and those on my mailing list.
Hi everyone,

I would really like to thank you for all the support that you have shown towards this project since its conception in 2011.

Now we are near our launch date and this past Sunday April 21st, we officially documented 536 meters for our World's Longest Banner attempt.

We have had such a wonderful response from our schools with the making of the banner segments. We also have had a great response from others outside our community.

At this time we are anticipating that we will have over 1,000 meters for this banner and we are in desperate need of volunteers from the schools and community members to help out with the parade on May 5th.

If it is possible could you please let me know if you will have a team and a team leader from your school that will be attending the Gift of Life Banner Parade on Sunday May 5th?

We need to set up and meet before 1:00 to be able to start walking by 2:00 p.m.

Yours truly

Maria Stranaghan.

Am I overwhelmed and how are things going ??? - 400 meters in

Hello again my friends....I just received an email from one of our many volunteers ...asking if I was overwhelmed....lol

Overwhelmed is putting it mildly....lol

Question....What is the World Record for a banner ?....

[I was told that the world record for a banner is 40 meters - but we are doing it differently then it's been done before....we are doing it one meter at a time.]

Question...Am I busy ?

Really busy now with all that has been going on.....I have been volunteering at school and getting ready for our Spring Trade show and going about in the community promoting full time since January.

Question ...When do people need to have thier enties in by??

As long as the entries come in before our banner day on May 5th we will try to make sure that they all get sewn on and added to the existing banner.

Question ...Do you need to make a banner to take part in the parade?

Anyonoe can take part....one and all are welcome to join us on that day for the parade and it isn't necessary for someone to have made a banner in order to walk with us.

What I'm telling people is that,

There are some of those that can't be with us on that day and they have asked others to walk for them. 

 "Walking in the Gift of Life Banner Parade for an hour, will give a family in need a lifetime of happiness!"

 Question ...How many meters do we now have for our record?

As for how many meters of banners do we now have - At this time, I have 400 meters sitting at our Trade Show table.

Question...How many meters do we expect the banner to be?

I'm not sure...because banner segments are coming in everyday now.

Plus, all of the 1,209 meters that I have measured,cut and documented, have been distributed.

All of our schools in Peace River and Grimshaw are participating and we have other schools in the province taking part.

We have 10 different faith communities taking part etc.

Question...Am I overwhelmed?

Yes...and also delighted, excited, exhilarated....ummmm...need I go on :-)

I'm not getting much sleep but that's ok because, I know that when we are done I'll be able to rest easy, Tasha's Wish that we educated the world, will finally have been fulfilled.

 ......thank you... thank you ...thank you ...... to one and all ....
Please know that as soon as I can, I will take pictures of the banners segments that have arrived and I will be posting them ASAP.

Take care, God blessand have a great day.

Maria

I’ll be happy when this is project is done ! - Some things are astonishing !

Well my friends I must say……

Good grief ---I’ll be happy when this is project is done because at times I get tired and a bit overwhelmed.

A Gift of Life Scavenger Hunt and Green Ribbon Campaign

I am so very grateful for the support that we have been getting from our local media and for the wonderful response that I’ve been getting from our local businesses/stores.

But, I must say that during this campaign and this is especially during these past couple of months I have  found a few things to be a bit astonishing -

What I have been doing and what I find to be a bit bewildering.

As you know, I have been working on this campaign since the spring of 2011 and during this time I have been going out and speaking to media, schools, community organizations, businesses and community members in general.

I have talked so much that at times the idea of saying another word on this subject makes me dizzy and at times I feel ill. But I keep telling myself that “It’s only for a few more days!” and then I just keep chugging along.

Everything is close at hand!

Now with the date so close at hand and with having almost everything in place I find it difficult to believe that, while I go from place to place –

Promoting the green ribbon campaign

1. The Gift of Life Scavenger Hunt
2. The Gift of Life booth at our local Spring Trade Show this weekend
3.  The Community Silent Action for the Gift of Life memorial site – and
4. The Gift of Life Rally on April 21^st and
5. Banner Parade on May 5^th,

Despite all the promoting and all the information that has been handed out, there are so many in my community that are telling me that they haven’t even heard about this event.  

All of this makes me realize that we as a society are just so bombarded with messages and information that unless someone gets the message first hand, not matter how important the event may be, we just don’t hear what is going on, what is being done or being said in the community or by the media.

All of this just makes me aware and understand, how I personally, need to be more aware of what is going on. It makes me want to get out my own little world and be more open to a world that can only help me to grow as an individual.

Well my friends - I need to get back to bed for a bit - I have lots to do in the morning - I have physio for my thumb at 7:40 - a meeting at 10:00 to discuss photo documentation for our Guinness World book record – then I have to go to, schools, promote in businesses/stores, visit my soon to be 84 year old mom and at 3:00, go with my hubby and our daughter Crystal to meet her realtor.

Geeezzz – it’s no wonder that our home looks like it’s been hit by a hurricane – I just have to shake my head and keep reminding myself that soon it will be over and done with.

I also remind myself that, after May 5^th I will finally be able to go to Tasha’s gravesite and lay down some flowers and say “My dear, we did it –your wish has been fulfilled – everyone now knows the message that you left behind, of how important it is to love on another and to try and help your fellow man.”

Good night for now, take care, God bless and have a great day.

One month to go - Working with students and community.

Well my friends -

Our day will soon be here!

So much has happened this year already and I'm not getting much sleep lately --- but I know once we are done I will be able to get some rest.

Because of what we are doing, I was invited to speak about our event at one of our local schools.

So with everything else, I haven’t had much time to be at my computer to do much writing.

Working with students.

These past few weeks I have volunteered my services at my former high school. It’s been quite the thing, to be able to share my experiences over these past 20 years, all the while, hoping to inspire students in a leadership and volunteerism class.

This weeks Plans

The students will be back from Easter Break so I will be back at the schools picking up banner segments and sending information about the information booth at our local trade show, the Banner Rally and information session on April 21st and our Gift of Life Banner Parade on May 5th.  

The plans for promotion with the students this week is, a scavenger hunt with grade nine Glenmary students that have been working on banner segments.

It’s been quit the experience for us all and it’s been great to have them working this semester for the cause of organ & tissue donation.

The next step for the students is to go out in the community to promote the cause and what they are doing to be a part of it.

I have planned a Gift of Life Scavenger Hunt for them and part of this hunt will include promoting our Gift of Life Banner Volunteer Rally on April 21^st and our Gift of Life Banner Parade on May 5^th.

Great things are happening

Our local Chamber of Commerce donated a booth ($500 value) at the Spring Trade Show. Community businesses have also offered to help out with promoting our event with patrons

Prizes have also been donated to help fundraise for the Gift of Life memorial site and prizes have been given for a free gift draw for students. Prizes have also been donated for free gift draw for our Gift of Life events volunteers. (And we have some great prizes!! - I will list them at a.s.a.p.)

 Through all of this there are still banners to be collected and sewn together and everything else that comes with that.

Like I said I’m not getting much sleep but I know it’s all worth the effort that I’m putting into this.

I know that I’ll never regret the time, money or effort that I have put in. One of the things that I say to others is, “If there ever comes a day, when someone that I love needs a transplant, no matter what, I know that I have already given my all to help save their life.”

Take care, God bless and have a great day.

Maria

Segment 1,000 (meters) a special day - in memory of baby Paul

Our 1,000 meter segment cut for the banner - This day was in memory of baby brother Paul - Burn victim

Saturday February 23, 2013

I was getting ready to finally finish cutting the material that I ordered for the making of the banner. Today I was determined to finally get this job done.

I had just spent the night at moms. One of the reasons that I had stayed with mom was because she had been sick all day and I was concerned about her health and wellbeing. I also thought that, since my hubby Allen was working night shift and my work is set up downstairs in her sewing room, that it would help me to get an early start, so I could complete this part of the project.

In the morning while we were sitting down in the kitchen, having a cup of coffee, mom suddenly started to talk about baby brother Paul.

She said…” 53 years ago Paul was born today he was black and blue and, it had been a difficult delivery and the doctors struggled to find out what was wrong and struggled to save his life. They found out that the cord was wrapped around his neck, but managed to save his life!”

Talking about baby Paul.

Lately Mom has been speaking a lot about Paul’s death and today we discussed this tragic event one more time.

Paul’s last day on earth -

On December 28th in 1962 baby Paul died from burns that he had sustained after falling in a tub of boiling water.

Circumstances leading to Paul’s death

Farm life…in 1962 with 10 children

To help support our family, we worked the farm and much of our product was sent to market. Towards this goal, during the past year turkeys had been purchased and raised. Christmas season would soon be over so dad informed us that it was time to get these turkeys ready so that they could be sold.

Time to do the turkeys-

It was an extremely cold day…I remember being told that the temperature was around minus 40, but despite the weather conditions the work had to be done.

For the task of killing the turkeys, there was our dad, 12 year old Ronald and 8 year old Arthur, (and visiting with us at this time was) 14 year old cousin Gilbert.

After they had just completed the task of butchering some of the turkeys for that day, they came into the house so that we could continue the process.

Once everyone was in the house, dad delegated, Ron and Arthur to watch the littlest ones in the living room. In their care were, baby Gillies, 1 year old Eddie, 2 year old Paul, 4 year old Bernice, 5 year old Rene and 7 year old Cecile. This was a change of events, due to the next phase (scalding, plucking and gutting) being considered “”Women’s Work””

Mom was set up at the stove to do the scalding of the turkeys and my sister, 11 year old Jeannette and Maria, (I was 9 years old), where set up at the table to do the plucking and gutting.

The water had just come to a full boil for the scalding of the turkeys, dad had now informed Mom that, she had to dunk the turkeys in the water so we could begin the process of plucking.

Since mom was only 5 feet tall, the only way she could accomplish this task would be if she stood on a chair in front of the stove and the tub of boiling water. Because mom was fearful that an accident might happen, she asked dad to place the tub of water on the floor so that she could have easier access of the water.

Just as this process had been completed, there was a commotion in the living room and 2 year old Paul came running into the kitchen and ended up falling into the tub of water. (To date there is debate as to what all really transpired at this time but) The end result is that, it devastated our family and the guilt, blame and sorrow surrounding this tragedy lasts to this day.)

As for me - the result of this childhood trauma came to mind after Tasha had died and we started the donation process. When I was asked if we would consider donating skin for burn victims and I said yes. I replied yes to this question, even though I was horrified at the thought of what this process  might entail  After I had given them my reply I asked them to please explain to me how we could make this possible and still be able to go forward with normal funeral arrangements.

The doctors explained the process and let me know that they could fulfill Tasha’s entire donor wish and that she would be treated with the utmost respect and we would still be able to follow her final day wish.

I am thankful to this day to say that to the end, we were able to fulfill all of Tasha’s wishes.

Because, we were able to donate everything like Tasha had requested, I always let people know that ...When we donated Tasha's organs & tissues, we also donated skin and bone, despite all of this, we were still able to follow our French family tradition of having an open casket and viewing on the day of her funeral!

I would like to finish by saying that, having been given the opportunity of being able to donate skin for burn victims, helped to heal the child within me ....that 9 year old child that could still see all that had transpired on the day when her baby brother fell into a tub of boiling water.

Paul was born on February 23 in 1960 and he died on December 28th.

Mom gets comfort in knowing that Paul is with Jesus. Mom always says Paul was an innocent and Paul died on December 28th, this is the day of Holy Innocence (the day that King Herod wanted Jesus Killed so he ordered that all little boys under the age of 2 be massacred)

Today was a special day for me .... and it was made more special because after mom and I were done talking I told her that today I would work in memory of Paul.

Today, I did finally cross the finish line for the 1 kilometer mark of the banner ...today I finally did segment 1,000 for the banner and today my work was done for my mom and in memory of my baby brother Paul.

Take care my friends ...God bless and have a great day

Thumbs Up for the Cause --- update April 22

Hi again my friends,

 

I may have slowed down...but as they say.....no rest for the wicked and no time to feel sorry for ones self...because we are way too close to the finish line now!

 

My thumb will recover but I'm not sure what will happen with my eyesight...as far as that goes ....it's up to God.

 

When it comes to people they can be funny sometimes 

 

My hubby (Allen) he says that it's the green hair dye that is affecting my eyesight...lol...funny man.

 

One of my elderly aunts told me that she thought God wanted me to stop doing this banner thing...that He was the one that was causing my injuries --- crazy old hen that she is ! ....but got to love her for being concerned. But then she isn't the first person to try and convince me that God is against this project - go figure!

 

As for getting the word out ...

 

I did a presentation for some Glenmary students yesterday ( it was for a student leader and volunteerism class) Things went really well and they informed that they are on board for this project and they have asked me to come back next week (so I meet with them again next Thursday).

 

This presentation was special to me for a couple of reasons..

1st becaues this is the school that used to attend and 2nd because this is the school that first asked me to come and do a presentation after Tasha passed away and became a donor.

 

Now I'm getting ready for Monday the 25th, at that time I meet with our town council to issue the challenge with a 10 meter segment of banner..( I will be posting pictures)

 

Then on Tuesday the 26th, we head to the city to see the eye specialist for the 4th time to see how things are progressing with my eyesight.

 

So like I said ...no rest for the wicked...lol

 

Ta for now..God bless and.take care  

 

Thumbs Up for the cause of Organ & Tissue Donation.

Take care ...God Bless ...and have a great day.

 

Maria

Good news - & bad news - pictures of flyers - Stand up and be counted etc.

Hello once again,

Well my friends ---- As some of you may know by now I do have some good news and bad news.

 

First thing is that my eye doctor informed me that my eye has been infected with a virus....nothing they can do about it and I now have 4 scars on my left eye.....(the good thing so far is that I still have my vision)

More Good news -- my blog is letting me post pictures again...

Good News -- I have 95 more meters to go and I will have cut 1,000 meters/1 kilometer of segments for our Canadian Record for the World's Longest Banner.

Ummm a bit more bad news....While I was cutting material, the rotary blade that I was using got caught on the temp plate and the blade sliced through my thumb and cut my tendon in half.

More Good news the doctor was abler to reattach the tendon... it took 3/4 of an hour to reattach but he says that it looks like I'll be fine.

 

Good news....hey I only have 95 more meters to go and we'll have 1 kilometer of banner.....now we just have to wait for the banners to come in so that we can sew them together.

I still have one good hand :-)

Picture of invitation

This is where will will hold the parade of banners -

just a 2.5 kilometer walk and then we stack and count the banners -

after that we can have a banner trade off....

then we can recycle our banners by framing them as pictures...

or by making green bags or quilts etc.

Canadian Challenge -

I'm hoping that at least one Canadian from each province will take up this challenge,

for me this would make it such a great success.

simple instructions for making a banner..

don't feel intimidated ....

if all you can do is sign your name then that is all that is needed.

After all -

what we are trying to do is create some awareness

Well my freinds -- this is it for now...take care -- God bless and have a great day.

Maria

Going Green for the cause - School wins Challenge

Well hello again my friends –

As you may recall, a few months ago, I made a promise to our local schools and this Thursday I had to keep my promise.

Because of this promise, I am now green and will stay green until the parade of banners on May 5^th.

Dare to Dream a local school Challenge:

 The school that in PR that has the most* banners made before Christmas break will be able to dye my hair green for Christmas. (My hair will stay green until the Parade of Banners on May 5^th 2013) – Green for the cause of Organ & Tissue Donation

 (*The winner was determined by the ratio of banners for number of students and staff in the school)

The winning school that had one hundred percent of teachers and students participating in the world’s longest banner for organ & tissue donation.

Therefore on the 20^th of December 2012 - The winner of this Challenge, TA Norris Middle School in Peace River AB, had the opportunity to dye my hair that was once dark brown hair into a bright green.

My hair has been this color for 59 years

Before the dye went into my hair I informed the student and teachers that this was not an easy thing for me to do, since I am one of those people that like to blend into the crowd. I also stated that I have no problem with others dying their hair but this just isn’t something that I would personally do.

I was very thankful that they had gone all out for the cause and it was time to keep the promise that I had made.

The steps the process that I had to go through was a bit intimidating since others kept warning me that my hair could all fall out etc. and that basically what I was doing was a crazy thing to do.

My response to them was, people shave their heads for cancer all the time….what I am doing is promoting the cause for organ & tissue donation…..Green is the color for life and new beginnings…therefore I am going green…if my hair falls out etc.  Then ….so be it!!!

 I must say for a process that I found to be so intimidating, it actually ended up being quite liberating and it felt good to let go of my fears.

The night before I went into the school I tried to bleach my hair.

I was shocked that after 2 hours of bleaching my hair turned out to be RED!

Then I had to bleach it again and this took another hour!

After this I'm beinging to ask myself .....

Is my hair going to fall out??!!!

Well now this is really a new look for me and I think of the saying...

Blonde's have more fun....hummmm...I wonder....but there is no stopping now!

I am now in front of the students and staff in TA Norris School and they cheer me on...

"Hey this is starting to feel o.k...I'm letting go of my fears !!"

I am now GREEN....and

 I think Blonde's might have more fun but I know that Green will do more good !!

Now I am ready for May 5th, 2013

Well my friends, I want to thank you for all your support and I wish you all a Christmas and a New year filled with many blessings.

Maria

Sometimes it seems to never end !!!

Hello again my friends,

Well it’s been a while since I last posted and of course I have been busy with trying to get ready for Christmas, so like most of you, I have had my hands full.

Another thing that has happened since I last posted is that, we have had 3 more funerals to go to.

I must say that, when I think of the pain and suffering that my family and friends have to go through and will go through, it seems to never end. At times this, it’s almost more than a heart can bear or a mind can cope with!

We have had, such sad times in our community this year, with so many losses of young lives and so many families and friends grieving and it is so heart breaking to see others go through this.

Then like so many out there, my heart breaks again for families such as those in the US where the lives of children and adults are taken in such a horrendous way

What I have to do when things like this happen, because this is the only thing I can do to keep from falling apart, is that I keep reminding myself that, no matter what happens in life, there are some really wonderful people in this world that are compassionate and loving and this gives me hope.

I also remind myself that the best thing I can do at times like this is to try and focus on the positive, to live the best life that I can and to be the best person that I can be and I do this for myself as well as others. 

My friends, for all of you that are suffering due to a loss of loved ones at this time, my heart and prayers go out to you and your loved ones.

 I pray that you will find peace in mind and heart; I also pray that you are blessed and filled with God’s love and strength.

Take care and wishing you the best.

Maria

Christmas season - busy times & sad time

Hello my friends,

I just want you to know that I haven't forgotten about you or my blog....it's just been a very busy time for us at home.

First, when I came back from the Gala, I started to make my rounds in our community with promoting the banner etc.

At this time I am also, for and in my community, I'm heading up a month long, Gift of Life - Scavenger Hunt to help raise some awareness and money for the Gift of Life memorial benches and the Gift of Life Arboretum.

My husband and I had to go away for a week because, we were giving my sister a hand with her booth at Spruce Meadows in Calgary.
  
When we came back, to help those wanting to make banners, I made up an information album and I also made up this album for a personal keepsake. Another reason that put together this album was so that participants could download it and if they want to that can have it for their own keepsake; they can then also add their story to ours.

 Now here is something that I always hope that I never have to share again.... yesterday morning we had some more sad news.

So this morning I am back and I have to tell you that, we have to deal with the loss of another member of our extended family.

Like our daughter, another young life, taking way too soon, so it's a heart breaking time again, for our family and our community.

As you know, like so many others, I have struggled to deal with our own loss.

Because of this, for now, I will be sharing with you a few things that I have written over the years. 

I hope that my words will somehow in some way be of help to you and those you may know that struggle and suffer with their own loss. 

Take care and may God bless you and yours each moment of the day.

Maria