April 23, 2018…Addendum post to the 4/21 living donor rally in Chicago….
What a phenomenal day it was! The massive space was filled with a sea of about 1400 people, all happy to be there to honor over 400 of our donor Heroes with a special day. I would love to see this become a national day of recognition. I don’t know if that idea is in the works or not, but it should be. I’ve never been in a space that was so filled to the brim with joy and gratitude like this. It was palpable!
Thank you to so many who shopped at my booth of transplant jewelry! I also loved meeting dozens of of my online customers who came by to show me they were wearing a piece purchased from me. Many said they never take it off. I was very touched that my pieces meant so much to so many. There were lots of hugs and smiles all day. It warmed my heart even in the chill of Chicago’s cool spring this year. Below is a photo of my booth at the rally while we were getting set up. I’m on the right, standing with my cousin/helper.
Laurie Lee and Kate Griggs deserve a huge hand for planning this incredible day and weekend for all of us. There were wonderful speeches, great booths for organizations and vendors to show their products and services, and of course the official photo going to the Guinness people of world record fame. There were so many details at every turn but from my view, it looked like all went smoothly. The official photo below, by John F. Martin Photography, Detroit, Michigan, was taken beside Anish Kapoor’s giant Bean sculpture in Millennium Park. The photographer was across the street from the park on the top floor to fit all the donors into the photo,.There were 438 in the photo, but more were at the event who didn’t get their official paperwork in. This well establishes a world record for the most living donors in one place. The event made all the major Chicago network news. It was a fabulous experience to be there! If there is another rally, I hope to see 1000 donors and 2000 people gather to celebrate our wonderful, noble Heroes.
December 1, 2017
An attempt to establish the Guinness World Record for the most living organ donors in one photo will take place in Chicago on April 21, 2018. I thought I’d pass this along because it sounds like a great networking opportunity to meet other donors and recipients and will be a lot of fun! The organizers are looking for more donors to join in. The record stands at 250 living donors, so pass it on to anyone who might like to join us in Chicago, beat a world record and enjoy springtime in our beautiful city. Everyone will meet at the famed Millennium Park at the Iconic “Cloudgate” Sculpture by Anish Kapoor, affectionately known as the BEAN. It has to be the largest bean in the world, our very own giant mirrored kidney here in Chicago. It’s stunning and the perfect place for this event. All ticket sales will go towards Northwestern Medicine’s Transplant Village to help with living donor expenses not covered by insurance.
I’ll be there and my living donor cousin is coming from Georgia, along with family supporters. The event coordinators have been granted permits for vendors so I will have my kidney jewelry there for donors, recipients and supporters. Please look for my table, stop by and say hi!
If you haven’t been to Chicago, you’re in for a treat. A gorgeous lakefront, Millennium Park, amazing architecture and artwork, world class museums, fabulous food, (especially pizza), live music of every kind. Late April weather is usually delightful and if you live someplace without seasons, you’ll love our April spring.
The Facebook link to sign up for this event, or read more about it is https://www.facebook.com/events/1520005218056756/
UPDATE: There is a new updated Eventbrite page with more information, including signing up, Tshirt purchases, and other information here:
For Tickets, go to https://goo.gl/LhydaG
or take the long way: (https://www.eventbrite.com/e/living-donors-meeting-to-attempt-guinness-world-record-tickets-41312598093)
Here are a few images of the Bean. Check online for many stunning photos in every imaginable light. The top photo does not have a photo credit. The bottom one is signed EvaBlue.
I was able to donate a kidney to my husband on Christmas Eve 2014. So many of our family and friends are suffering from kidney failure. There is a huge need to dispell the myths about organ donation and insensitivities of hospital staff and emergency teams, during the process. We need more information shared and more people willing to consider organ donation to save lives. Please think about it!
My girlfriend and I are both non directed donors from Ontario Canada. We were sent the info about the world record and want to know more details. What event or activity is planned beside the group photo. Can you share how many people you need for the world record and how many have registered thus far.
HI Kathleen, I hope you have received some information on the April event by now. Until recently, I didn’t have any further information that I posted here on my blog. I wanted to let you know that the event needed a minimum of 250 donors and they recently hit that mark in donor signups with many more expected as the time gets closer to the event. There is a detailed process of paperwork to meet the requirements for the Guinness record keepers. Once you sign up, I understand that donors need to get a form signed by your doctor stating that you are indeed a kidney donor, plus other papers that need to be sent in ahead of time. That figure doesn’t include the hundreds of recipients, family and friend supporters who have signed up as well to attend. The 250+ donor signups doesn’t include all the supporters attending, but I understand they’ve sold over 1000 tickets total, so it should be quite a large crowd gathered.
I heard from one of the coordinators recently that there will be several speakers, some entertainment and of course the main photo event, which hopefully, will get on the news far and wide to let the public know about 1. Our Heroes and 2. the extreme need for organ donation.
I just found out that a vendor permit came through recently so I will be there with my kidney transplant jewelry. I’m excited about this event, excited that my donor is actually coming and it looks like there is a lot of interest from all over North America and some international attendance as well, so it should be a great day. Hope you will join us here. Thanks for your comment. Sorry it took me so long to write back. Best regards from Chicago, Myra
I had the fortunate pleasure of being able to be a living donor to my younger sister on December 22nd, 2017. I would love to be part of this event & meeting fellow donors.
Thanks for the information. I have submitted my paperwork and I will look for your booth.
Thanks Kashira! I Look forward to meeting you!
I am a very recent (12 days ago) living kidney donor to my beautiful friend Diane. I was wondering if there are plans in the works to attempt to break the world record?
I would love to attend!!
There is not currently a plan to break the world record during the 2020 event. Right now, it looks like the 2020 event will be a meetup of living donors and their supporters, a more casual, self directed event instead of a centrally organized one. The latest news I have is at the following link, but the date may change since it is also Easter weekend. Stay tuned. I’ll post changes when I hear about them. For now, you can see the latest here: https://www.facebook.com/events/435226287004622/