Educating Minorities About Transplants Inc

When I learned about Educating Minorities About Transplants, Incorporated (EMAT), I was instantly drawn to its mission to spread awareness about the importance of transplants and organ donation. The lifesaving work being done by the organization’s volunteers, board members, partners, and leadership is having a strong community impact.

Every ten minutes another name is added to the national transplant waiting list with African Americans constituting roughly 33%. Educating Minorities About Transplants is doing its part to encourage people to register to become organ and tissue donors.

I am proud to be a part of the work Educating Minorities About Transplants is doing to increase those who register, volunteer, and donate to a cause that helps to save lives.

As an ambassador for Educating Minorities About Transplants, please consider joining me by giving of your time, talent, and treasure. One YES makes a difference, and it begins with you. I look forward to serving alongside you in the days, weeks, months, and years ahead!

Mrs. De Asa Blake
Ambassador

I am a person that has experienced kidney disease on so many levels. I was a Dialysis nurse for many years and as fate would have it, I suffered from kidney disease. I was blessed to have a friend that gave me the Gift of Life, and received a living donor kidney transplant.
Due to other health circumstances, my donor's kidney failed after 8 years. I had to start dialysis to live. Having been a Dialysis nurse, I knew that I wanted to do Peritoneal Dialysis, the type that requires a tiny tube through the belly. The treatment would be 10 hours a night, 7 days a week while I slept. It was a huge adjustment, but I wanted to live. I did this for 3 years until I learned I needed abdominal surgery. After this, I could no longer do Peritoneal Dialysis. I had to resort to the only other option there was, Hemodialysis. This is the kind most people are familiar with. Fortunately, I was still able to do my treatments at home.
It was around this time that scrolling through Facebook one day, I came across the EMAT page. I saw post after post about the kinds of things they did related to education, awareness of kidney disease and donor registration and was immediately drawn to them.
I reached out to Ms. Brill to find out more. I knew I wanted to be a part of this incredible organization.
She told me her story, the why and how she founded EMAT. What an amazing lady! And what an amazing group of people.
This group has been such an inspiration to me on days when it seemed so difficult to go on. I read the stories, I see the faces of those who have gotten their transplants and I keep the hope that my "one yes" is coming.
My name is on the national registry for the kidney transplant list. I'm waiting for a kidney. I've been listed now for close to 5 years. Dialysis is great in it's place. It keeps you alive, but it's not living. With a transplant, I can live.
I am currently the Kidney Care Concierge for EMAT.
A KCC, is a person that EMAT has in place to assist those who are post kidney transplant with any issues they may have as they transition into living with a new donor kidney.
EMAT has changed my life. They been instrumental in making sure my face and my story stay visible. Whenever they have an event, those that are in the organization had rack cards on display to be seen by anyone that passes by. This is a testament to the level of commitment this group has to helping one find the Gift of Life.
They are a wonderful organization in the Renal/Kidney field. Not just as a support to minorities but for anyone dealing with kidney disease, I highly recommend becoming a member of Educating Minorities about Transplants.

Admittedly, I was one of those people afraid to sign-up as an organ donor. I believed the myth that, if “organ donor” appeared on my license, the paramedics wouldn’t attempt to save me because my death may prove more valuable than my life. Then, I learned about EMAT.

I realized what I’d believed simply wasn’t true. More so, if I was worried, I could still be a donor without allowing it to say on my license. It really resonated when my aunt went into kidney failure and lived in and out of dialysis for years — then she got the call on Thanksgiving Day. What a blessing. She has lived vibrantly for years after her transplant, and thankfully so since her elderly mother has been living with kidney failure all the years since.

EMAT made a believer out of me and I’m proud to be apart of an organization that is saving lives one yes at a time. I said yes thanks to EMAT and pray others will, too. Great organization!

I am proud to be a member of this great organization. In brief, it is designed to spread awareness about the importance of organ donation.

I have a very personal interest as it relates to the founder of EMAT. I learned through watching her go through her personal struggle in needing a lung transplant. She was blessed to receive a double lung transplant over 15 years ago. I served as one of her Caregivers. It is from this experience that I fully support the many causes of this nonprofit. We donate time, talent and treasure to be of help to others by spreading awareness in the community about the importance of organ donation and supporting those who are going through their transplant journey and the people who support them.

Please help today to be that catalyst to support a worthy cause by donating to us or volunteering with us.

Thanks,
Cheryl Parker
Caregiver

Shirley contacted me after learning about my experience with tissue donation and quickly became a dear friend. I was thrilled to hear about EMAT’s mission and jumped on board. It is so important to educate people about every aspect of organ, eye, and tissue donation. My three tissue transplants that have enabled my career as a calligrapher to continue are invaluable, and my husband was able to donate his corneas and over 140 gifts of skin, bone, nerve, tendon, and ligament tissue to improve the lives of dozens of people. I am honored to be able to share our stories through EMAT.