By Caroline Miller, Marketing & Communications Specialist
Eversight has a goal to change as many lives as possible through donation, transplantation and research. Organ procurement organizations (OPOs) are leading partners in this mission.
NJ Sharing Network, established in 1987, stewards the gift of life through the recovery and placement of donated organs and tissue for those in need. They also ensure the gift of eye donation is available to those needing sight-saving cornea transplants through their partnership with Eversight.
Another way NJ Sharing Network and Eversight work together to impact the New Jersey community and raise awareness about eye, organ and tissue donation, is through the Sharing Network Foundation.
The Foundation is committed to increasing the number of lives saved and transformed through clinical advancements, family support and public awareness and education.
Amanda Tibok, Executive Director of the Sharing Network Foundation, provides strategic direction and oversight of philanthropic initiatives that increase the number of lives saved through donation and transplantation.
“I work alongside NJ Sharing Network executive leadership in the day-to-day oversight of the Foundation, as philanthropy is a fundamental pillar of our lifesaving work,” Amanda said. “It's an honor to spearhead programs and initiatives that support NJ Sharing Network in its mission to save lives.”
The Foundation does this through raising awareness of the impact of donation and transplantation, hosting community events and encouraging people to register as eye, organ and tissue donors.
“With the support of our partner organizations, like Eversight, we're able to offer many programs to organ and tissue donor families that allow them to honor and remember the legacy of loved ones,” she said.
The largest and most anticipated event of the year, hosted by the Foundation and sponsored by Eversight, is the 5K Celebration of Life.
“The 5K Celebration of Life is a healing time for donor families, transplant recipient families and members the donation and tranplant our community, as well as our hospital and donation partners, like Eversight, to come together to celebrate the gift of life,” Amanda said.
This event, held in May and June every year in Ocean Grove and New Providence, New Jersey, is more than a 5K. True to its name, it’s a place where more than 10,000 people in both locations come together to celebrate the gifts of life, sight and mobility.
“You see donor families and transplant recipients alike coming together, some of them meeting for the first time, some of them kind of adopting each other as their own,” she said. “It's become a beautiful celebration of healing, of life.”
There are more than 300 teams that come out year after year—including #TeamEversight—to run or walk for the gift. This program’s goal is to bring the message of donation front and center, both in New Jersey and across the country, by getting more people to say, ‘Yes’ to registering as a donor.
“It helps us to continue the conversation in our local New Jersey communities so that ultimately people are educated, they're talking to their families about donation, and that they're saying, ‘Yes’ to registering as an organ and tissue donor,” Amanda said.
For Amanda, the donation and transplantation community is the most giving group of people she has had the pleasure of meeting. In addition to her role at the Foundation, Amanda is also a member of Eversight’s New Jersey Advisory Board.
“The advisory board is tasked with helping Eversight grow its mission through its philanthropic endeavors, but also through grassroots public education efforts with the help of local Lions Clubs,” she said. “I'm glad to be a part of it, to share my expertise, to help connect others to my Eversight colleagues when I can, and be a resource as needed.”
As a member of the board, Amanda touches base with Eversight staff on different initiatives that are impacting New Jersey constituents.
“We serve the same group of people who have been impacted by organ, eye and tissue donation,” she said. “By being able to unite in that mission and connect regularly and share what's working, what's not working, we're able to further the impact.”
The ‘power of one’ is what Amanda thinks back on when she discusses donation; the ripple effect that one person can have on others, whether by saving lives through organ donation, or transforming lives through eye and tissue donation.
The authentic relationship between Eversight and the Sharing Network Foundation makes it possible to help continue to save and heal lives in our communities.
“When people hear the words philanthropy or fundraising, they usually think about dollars raised. For me, it's what those funds make possible,” Amanda said. “That's what it's all about.”
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