Norma Adams-Wade , The Dallas Morning News

The folks at Southwest Transplant Alliance are constantly seeking ways to
persuade more black people to donate the organs of loved ones who have died.

Yet too often organ donation continues to be taboo for many – not good when
large numbers of black people need transplants because of health conditions
such as diabetes, health professionals say.

The common argument is that if more blacks donate organs, more will be
available when physicians are seeking a good match for a black person who
needs a transplant – especially a kidney.

Organs match better and transplants are more successful when the donor and
recipient are black, medical professionals say.

The problem is that many people, including an inordinate number of blacks,
oppose donating organs for religious or personal reasons. So donation
advocates consistently try to educate the public and dispel false beliefs.
This weekend, advocates and medical professionals will distribute
information and pause to say thank you in a big way to a growing number of
people who have donated organs of loved ones who have died.

Southwest Transplant is expecting hundreds of people to come to the annual
Donor Family Recognition Ceremony from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at
Discovery Gardens in Fair Park.

Families of donors and recipients will meet and share thoughts about how the
gift of life changed them. Transplant officials also will rededicate a
walkway at Fair Park that commemorates donors.

The day will be particularly poignant for the family of one woman whose
organs saved several lives. The ceremony will be on the woman's birthday.
Relatives and people who received the woman's organs are expected to be
present. Defying the statistics, all these families and recipients are
black, officials say.