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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 3, 2001)
Page A3 (Etye ^Jnrtlanb (ßhsemer O cto b er 03, 2001 Working to Save Lives Alliance for King Elementary School A m bassadors spread m essage o f hope for A frican A m ericans needing organ, tissue and m arrow donations A group o f local am bassadors are educating A frican-A m ericans on decisions about organ, tissue and marrow donations, as well as e n c o u ra g in g th em to pay closer attention to their overall health. T he effo rt fo llo w s a sh o rt train in g sessio n at the In te r state F ireh o u se C u ltu ral C e n ter, h o sted by Fam ily o f O n e, a c o a litio n that in clu d es the N a tional K idney F o u n d atio n and the A m erican R ed C ro ss M a r row D o n o r Program . O ver 78,000 A m ericans cu r rently wait for life-saving organ transplants, o f w hich 25-percent are A frican A merican. “The efforts o f Family o f One are very vital to addressing health issues in the A frican A m erican com m unity,” said Fam ily o f One C o-C hair, Baruti Artharee. “T ra d itio n ally , A frican -A m erican s d o n 't talk about organ and tissue donations, but it’s critical to our com m unity for individuals and fam ilies to m ake tim e to discuss these issues.” Artharee said his wife received a much needed kidney transplant tw o years ago. “W e are both involved in in creasing aw areness for organ do nation and kidney disease p re vention because it allow s us to give som ething back to our com m unity.” A rtharee added. Fam ily o f O ne was form ed over a year ago to address the increased need fo r aw areness am ong A frican A m ericans, es pecially males, about the high incidence o f kidney disease and the vital need for organ, tissue and marrow donation. It is critical that those w ho w ant to be organ and tissue d o . Home Loan Program Expands (A P ) - V e te ra n s w h o servedafterthe Vietnam W ar now are eligible for state home loans under an expansion o f the program funded by a planned M onday bond sale. State T reasurer R andall Edw ards said the state w as to sell $60 million in bonds, $ 15 m illion o f which will finance an expansion o f the state GI loan program that w as ap proved by voters last N o vember. Previously, only veterans w ho served before 1977 could qualify for the loans. Theexpansion will cover G ulf W ar veterans as wel 1 as those who served during some other conflicts. As m any as 20,000 ad d i tional veterans are newly eli gible for loans, said Jon M angis, director o f the state Departm ent ofV eterans’ A f fairs. The loans currently carry a fixed interest rate o f 5.95 percent and are available for up to $275,O(X). nors have the “D ” included on their driv er’s license and, more im portantly, discuss this deci sion with fam ily members. Religious beliefs, mistrust o f the m edical com m unity and lack of education on the process of organ and tissue donation are the leading causes for a low er num ber o f donors from the African- A m erican com m unity. A f r ic a n - A m e r ic a n s w a it tw ice as long as C aucasians to receiv e a kid n ey tran sp lan t b e cau se o f the shortage o f donor o rg an s w ith in th eir race. A f r ic a n - A m e r ic a n s a ls o c o m p rise o v e r 3 0 -p e rc e n t o f those req u irin g dialy sis tre a t m en ts o r w aiting for a tra n s plant due to irrev ersib le kidney failu re due to high blood p re s sure and d iabetes. Each year, over 30,(MX) people are diagnosed with a blood dis ease w hich could be cured with a m arrow , blood stem cell or cord blood donation, and nearly 75 percent o f them will need an unrelated volunteer donor for their transplant. Because certain tissue traits are unique to people o f specific ancestry, the most likely donor m atch is from the patient’s same racial or ethnic group. M ultnom ah County C om m is sioner Serena Cruz said she sup ports the w ork o f Family o f One. “In fact, M ultnom ah County recognized the coalition this pas, year w ith a public health hero aw ard for the im portant work the group is doing to insure that m em bers o f the African A m eri can com m unity understand the issues and im portance involved in organ donation and kidney dis ease prevention,” Cruz said. Joseph Malone (left), principal o f King Elementary School, receives a donation Thursday for his northeast Portland school from Troy Steele, store manager for the Safeway Food and Drug Store on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Ainsworth. The $4,068.53 check represents the money students and store representatives raised during a series of store fundraisers such as bread sales and barbeques. It will purchase computers for the school and build a covered area for the playground. City m m m i e t i n n p r Hm Francesconi and Safewav President Lyle Waterman, attended the school ceremony, and both talked briefly about the importance o f forming and maintaining partnerships to benefit children. photo by M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver Memory Walk Fights Alzheimer’s Disease The A lzheim er's Association is the premier source of information is working to create a world with and support for those families, out Alzheimer’s disease by jo in friends, and caregivers who suffer ing together thousands of Orego from the effects of Alzheimer's dis ease. nians for Memory Walk 2001. The association is also involved In the Portland area, a Sunday, wiih Alzheimer-related issues be Oct. 7 walk is scheduled at the fore governmental agencies and World Trade Center downtown with health and long-term care pro with Darrell Grant serving as hon viders. orary celebrity chair. Grant is a jazz The largest private funder of pianist and Portland State Univer A lzheimer's research, the associa sity professor. tion has committed more than $ 100 The Alzheimer’s Association million toward research into the Soon it becomes difficult to dress, causes, treatment, prevention, and eat or bathe oneself. Eventually control of the limbs, bowel and cure of Alzheim er's disease. The symptoms of Alzheimer's bladder are gone and the person disease are not al ways recognizable. drifts into a silent stupor. After a They might begin with simple forget year or two of painful bedsores and fulness; perhaps the car keys, com diaper rash, the person is no longer mon nouns or new acquaintances. able to swallow food and then the Then it might become difficult to inevitable-death. To register for Memory Walk driveortorernemberaphone number or for more information on walks long enough to dial the phone. The throughout Oregon, please call disease does not stop there and the Andrea L. 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