Memorial Fund & Life Connection team up

GREENVILLE - The Zachary Garbig Memorial Fund, an account within the HOPE Foundation, is pleased to announce a new opportunity within Darke County for organ and tissue donor registry. In conjunction with Life Connection of Ohio and Edison Community College, students and the public may sign-up anytime day or evening to register to be an organ donor by stopping in at the Darke County branch of Edison Community College.

The Zachary Garbig Memorial Fund was started in 1999 by his parents, Phil and Karen Garbig, in honor of their son who received a liver/small bowel transplant as a fifth grader at Arcanum Schools. Although he lost his battle seven months later, his experience gave much needed knowledge to the medical professionals for future transplant recipients. The Garbig family believes we can make the best of an unfortunate situation by donating our organs and tissue and blessing someone else with health, hope and the promise of life. Gifts made to the account by friends and families on his behalf are designated to be used to further the quest of the family to increase organ and tissue donation awareness. The fund has paid for many billboards and other outreach methods throughout the years and they wanted to do something different this year. Thanks to the wonderful cooperation of Janice Michael from Edison Community College they were able to do so.

Anyone interested in learning more about organ donation or who want to signup can do so at the local school branch. They will be directed to the special computer on-site that is designated for this great cause through the website of Life Connection of Ohio. Life Connection is an independent, non-profit organ procurement organization and serves as the designated agency for northwest and west central Ohio. LCO provides services to 52 hospitals and donation education to the 2.2 million residents within a 23 county service area. It is important for people to realize that in the United States, over 95,000 people are on the national organ waiting list and over 2,500 of those are Ohioans. Sadly, eighteen people die each day due to a lack of available organs. For more information about Life Connection of Ohio, visit www.lifeconnectionofohio.org.

If you would like to make a donation to the Zachary Garbig Memorial Fund to further additional activities promoting organ donation awareness, feel free to send your check payable to HOPE/Garbig Fund, c/o HOPE Foundation, P.O. Box 438, Greenville, OH 45331 or contact Patty Lavy at 548-HOPE.

[re-printed from the August 30 edition of The Early Bird]