Minority Outreach

Black Expo 2007
Charleston, SC March 10th Rueben Wright with Lifepoint Volunteers, Vivian and Jake Williams	Columbia, SC May 19th Volunteers, Vivian and Jake Williams and Brenda Pogue

Donor mom shares her story…
I can see [my daughter] smiling from Heaven,
telling me I’m doing the right thing.

Evonne Austin’s daughter Tanya died after having a brain aneurysm in October 2001 at age 27.  Tanya went to church and she was a good girl who made her mom proud.  Pictures keep the wonderful memories alive of the great times the two shared together.

Evonne now is a volunteer with Donate Life South Carolina and shares her personal with others to spread the word about the need for more organ donors.  In an interview with the Greenville News, she discussed her decision to donate, “with no pressure and only hours to make a decision about organ and tissue donation,” ”it seemed like a whisper from heaven was saying yes”

Like many other families, Evonne and Tanya had never discussed organ donation.  Evonne knows she made the right decision because later she noticed Tanya had indicated she wanted to be an organ donor on her driver’s license.

Evonne takes comfort in knowing that she helped save several other lives by donating her daughter’s organs and at the same time honored her daughter’s wish to be an organ donor.

I’d tell any other mom that donating your child’s organs means you love them.  “I can see her smiling from heaven telling me I’m doing the right thing”.----Evonne, Mother of an Organ Donor