Gift of Hope banner flying over Jacksonville Memorial Hospital during Donate Life Month
Jacksonville Memorial Hospital President and CEO Trevor Huffman welcomed friends and family to the flag raising on April 30 in celebration of Donate Life Month. The annual event, held at different locations throughout the country is to affirm the hospital’s continued support and commitment to donation and highlight the need for organ and tissue donors.
The simple, yet powerful message honors those selfless donors and their families
Huffman also thanked the members of the care teams associated with organ and tissue donation throughout the community.
Morgan County Coroner Marcy Patterson shared stories of hope from local families and the people that were impacted by those gifts. Chaplain Jim Harper blessed the flag with a prayer (below) and Sarah Weiber of Gift of Hope shared a poem (See poem, below).
My Final Gift
It is now time for me to move on
Into the dusk, but also the dawn
I will remain as the morning comes,
As I have left behind a gift for someone.
So another may walk, may talk, may see
Where something in their life was locked,
I offered them a key.
I am donor, giving someone in need,
My final gift, my final deed.
The prayer
This flag is a beacon of hope for families that in the time of their deepest heartbreak, had the strength and courage, generosity, and kindness to choose life by donating organs and tissue for the benefit of complete strangers. It is a reminder that despair does not win. Every time the flag is raised, may we know that love lives on in this world, not only in the hearts and minds of those that grieve for a life taken too soon, but in the quiet and reflective gratitude of those touched by the generous gifts of life. It is our greatest hope that these gifts will make the lives of others a blessing each day.
