Hello and welcome to the gifted life podcast where we have conversations about Oregon tissue and I donation I'm Lori Steele and Joey Boudreau and they have allowed us to take the reins on this podcast. That's scary right? It's good. I don't know we're promoted demoted not sure Sally for this one, but I think we'll be we're gonna try right we got a power-packed podcast we are talking partnerships I love me some partnerships.
Yeah, Lord. We're giving special thanks on this podcast to volunteer in the Baton Rouge area with the coolest name on Earth I think so jinx we're talking the jinx effect one person Yeah, making the difference in the world of donation we talk about one person can make a difference here in the podcast She's doing it in the Baton Rouge area and she's using LSU students It's an incredible story that you will hear right here on the gifted life We'll also talk to some of those go get our students right absolutely those LSU students are increasing awareness increase in the registry in Funny creative ways they're truly making life happen. Yes, I love it And we can't wait to tell you all about it But here's the thing we want you to help us spread the word we try to make this podcast as easy to share as possible as usual You can always find us on Apple podcast Google play or whatever your favorite podcast that might be yeah a lot of what we're talking About the faces that we're gonna be talking about today can be found on Facebook. We're doing it like Louisiana Twitter Instagram We're at donate life la and listen we have this hotline.
That's right. Do you know that number? I can find it. Let me see.
It's 504 648 3477. That's 504 648 347 777 you did it, but I love it. All right, so that's our podcast hotline you call in it works like a voicemail So it could be at any time we just want to hear your stories We may use some of that audio here on the podcast but the goal here is to spur healthy conversations about organ Eye and tissue donation so if you've been touched by donation you've been thinking about it Maybe you have a question we want to hear from you right lots to get to on this podcast you ready Joe Let's do it. Let's do it on this episode of the gifted life We want to introduce you to what has become one of our lopa family members Her name is dr.
Jinx Bruce art and we just love her the power of one We talk about here on the gifted life one person making a difference she really is she really is and she's been doing this from the LSU campus Like you said since 2012. It's really neat how she impacts donation. Yeah, let's take a listen Lori steal here with a gifted life podcast on location and Baton Rouge Louisiana And I have a special guest with me dr. Jinx Bruce art.
How are you ma'am? I am just fine and delighted to be with you. Yeah, not the first time here on the gifted life podcast We've talked to Jinx before Jinx we lovingly refer to you as Jinx. Can I call you that?
I love my name so certainly It's easy to remember I love it now Jinx teachers media history and PR and the Manship School of Mass Communication at LSU She's known as a pioneer in the classroom. She's tough, but she's the best that you're gonna get she's an author and lopas a volunteer of the year Congratulations. Thank you so much so much I never expected to be named lopas volunteer of the year But I am so honored to be so recognized and as I said when I received the award in October I accept this award on behalf of the dozens and dozens of students who've been in my class who have worked on campaigns for lopa in Order to bring the gift of life. It's just incredible.
Let me give you some stats as to why she's our volunteer of the year over 1000 names added to Louisiana's donor registry over a thousand through this lady and 70 students have gifted 2000 plus hours To Lopa helping to increase donation awareness that is incredible and guess what she keeps going Which is incredible and it's all through this service learning curriculum that you post at LSU correct? My class is a service learning class in which we try to identify pressing community issues and needs and then have our students work with a nonprofit organization to address those Concerns those issues those challenges Lopa gets right in with this because it is providing such a valuable service Not only in the community in the state of Louisiana But in the nation and so it's the perfect partner for us And we think that you are a gift to us because you help us find the brightest minds the ones that are gonna go out and really Make a difference in this world and then you say hey take a look at Lopa How can you help them now and we have had some dozies since 2012 write some great campaigns really getting the attention of folks That we would have never gotten the attention of when it comes to donations You wouldn't believe it, but of course you would believe in Lori because you have been right there the students often begin my class Afraid apprehensive a little bit disturbed just by right scared sometimes because they've heard that they're gonna have to work really really hard But I will tell you during the course of the semester I watch those students morph from being small in terms of their belief in what they could do to beyond Exuberant at the end of the semester their hugs and kisses all around because they have heard the story of the need for Oregon and tissue donation they have become immersed in Making sure that they can do all they can to create awareness to create action And when they find out at the end of the semester that they have registered more than a hundred new donors are that? During one of their major events on the parade grounds at LSU that they talked to almost a thousand people creating awareness With those people about our end donations striding to the bunk the myths because so many of them occur out there And I'll tell you a little aside this semester I forgot what event LSU was having on the parade rounds But my students set up a table there and as people were passing by they have the the students have the license plate They had the the heart and so they already write a pitch in advance to be able to instead of saying come and be an Oregon donor, you know or all you an Oregon donor They might say do you know that being an Oregon donor can save nine lives or something like that? And so I get involved with them even on the professor So a lady was walking by and I said you know Oregon don't be becoming an Oregon donor can do lessons.
So and she says I don't know and I don't care and I grab the ladies arm And then I said oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, but that's how excited we get and you know the first thought after I touched my arm was that okay Jinster just I laid this lady space but we get so caught up in trying to spread the message trying to create awareness when we have stories about Wendy or John Clark or in this semester my students being the theme for the campaign is building communities Heart by heart so it follows up on last year's campaign with regards to John Clark But it also taps into the need for Baton Rouge and Louisiana to build community And so we tie a little put in with that also Yeah, and I love watching you because you're investing in these kids not only getting them ready for the real world But you're listening to them as well And so we had a great testament to what you do in the classroom her name is Rachel Edmond And she was my first connection to you back in 2012 So this was in 2012 now we're in 2017 heading into 2018 and this child is the young lady this leader still talks about lessons learned in your Classroom and when you were given Lopez volunteer of the year She showed up because that's how much she thinks of you And that is incredible the work that you do in that classroom creating these great humans Rachel showing up I tell you I was shocked. I was thrilled. I was honored I was moved and just to have her there knowing that she connected me with local through a positive story that she had to tell and that she was so invested in it that the entire class not just the team that She was working with but the entire class became invested and after I received the award and I was driving home and the tears Just came to my eyes because this has become a labor of love for me and becoming volunteer of the year never even entered my mind I just see myself doing that's work and trying to be an excellent teacher who impacts the lives of my students and through them Help to impact the lives of so many others and so Lopa is the perfect vehicle for me to live my dream I love you.
You know I do and I will partner with you as long as you have me As you want to Laura is a phenomenal partner you make my job much easier because you are right there with the students also 24 7 Laurie we are texting we are talking we are sending emails you are out at events I don't go to as many of the events I do most of the ones on campus but on weekends when I'm traveling you were there the students are there and the students are invested Just this week they have an event every day because one of the things we decided to do this She was to focus a lot on freshmen and sophomores because we decided that a lot of the seniors and juniors had already gotten our messages Even though we want to reinforce those messages But one way to make sure that we reach the newbie so to speak was to go into their dormitory area And so the students really get so involved in trying to impact lives and trying to change lives Well, I watch you inspire you inspire me to do more as well So we thank you dr. James Bruce our local volunteer of the year. Thank you so much Laurie And thanks again to Rachel for facilitating this partnership that will continue as long as I'm a professor at Manchin Hey, that really is the gift that is on giving is what a special gift it is. Oh my goodness And so every semester we see the registry increase we know that donation awareness is being spread across campus on and off It's just incredible right it is the change that she's able to make the work that she puts into making those changes Phenomenal it's good now.
You've ever been in class and you had like a hard teacher. Yes. She's that she's that what she cares Yes, yes, and she impacts your life. Yes, so we heard from Jinx now We're gonna hear from those students who are in her class and you know they start scared But then they end so confident and they're lifelong advocates.
We hope you want to hear from them. Yeah, I do too Here we go Laurie steel here with a gifted life on location on LSU's campus. Whoo exciting Hi guys. Yes, I am with a couple members of Irish communications and they are LSU go getter So they adopted Loba they help us increase the donor registry and increase awareness on and off campus So we love them.
So we'll be talking to Madison. Hello. Hi Tyler. Hi.
Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi.
Hi. Hi. Hi. All right guys So as you know we are all about Oregon Eye and tissue donation and the leader for you guys this semester was Dr James Bruce art and she was recently named volunteer of the year for Loba pretty neat.
Yeah, that is pretty neat She's been really inspirational figure. I think for all of us I mean she just you know, she'll whip our butt sometimes, but she's great I've learned so much from her and she'll always be in my mind to continue forward. Yeah, she's tough But I think it's worth it because Tyler like she wants you to succeed man Yeah, I know I can't think of another professor that deserves it more than her she came in our first impressions were little as a tent We were a little scared we were a little scared But I know for me personally whenever I met with her one-on-one She you can tell that she genuinely wanted us to do well and to move forward and I love that she knows the names of you guys She knows your personalities. She knows your strengths your weaknesses like she pays attention and really wants you to succeed Yeah, that's right.
Lori. I'm like time. She really just cares about us. She's one of the teachers that gives us our cell phone number So that's the color anytime, but she goes about it nine, but you didn't call her any time.
Yes So that's just been so nice that we can literally pick up the phone and call her with any question we need and she will Been over backwards about us. Yeah, and she's gonna continue to work with Loba and with students like you guys And you know it's gonna be tough, right? It's gonna be worth it because I think you guys are heading towards graduation going into the real world And I really think that you guys are set so you guys came together Irish communication You had a couple more members, but you guys did great with this campaign and different things that you came up with So I'm gonna ask for what like three accomplishments if each can name one of what you guys did this semester to help us save more lives Yeah, I think just bringing together volunteers has been a huge accomplishment for us You don't really know what to expect from people because we don't personally know them So reaching out and saying hey We would love your story would love to post it online on social media to get more attraction and people are just jumping over the moon to help Us they want their story out They want to help people as much as possible and it really I think touched our hearts that people were so willing to help And I think we were very surprised and really own up to that accomplishment and really just reaching out and touching people as well To get them out and to bring their stories to the public eye and they know LSU They know what this group is capable of and I think they thought it was an honor You guys would select their stories and post it so we enjoyed that and loved watching the interaction right Tyler for you Yeah, no, I just have so much praise and respect for our social media team. They did such a wonderful job They did they reached so many more people than we thought we ever could through their post and it was all their ideas And they did a great job.
Yeah, I thought so too Definitely one of my favorite things that we worked on this semester was targeting minorities on campus and getting the word about Oregon I and Tishu donation out to them And so we worked on forming partnerships with the African American Cultural Center and the Association of Black Communicators on campus and attended events with them And hope to work on those partnerships in the future and work on forming those relationships. Yeah new partners like music to my ears guys I love this it's just help us people helping us on our goal Which is to save more lives now you guys were out to table sits as well Donut believe the miss that was cute and one of my fun ones But you had a lot of interaction with a lot of people right So was there something that you guys heard like a myth or something that you were kind of shocked because you learn the facts And then you go out and then you get to hear what other people think about donation So was there something that you heard that really kind of make you kind of take a step back? Yeah, I think it's interesting you go out into the field you know certain miss but you don't necessarily know what people are gonna Say back to you I think one of the most surprising one was these are my organs and I'm gonna die with them I was born with them And I think we really try to change that mindset of you can do more you can really help people and It was difficult to really break that myth because you know there people just are kind of selfish in that way We should understand completely but I don't have that much time right? It's like 10 seconds that you pitch and they either they're for it or they're not so you really have to capture them in that quick 10 seconds, so get them one day now, right?
Yeah, we tried we got it. We got some we got a few so we're You increase that register you don't like that Tyler anything for you Yeah, the most shocking thing for me was talking to these people and you asked them Hey, are you an organ donor and they say no, I'm not who we say well can we ask you why? I'm just like I don't want to be and you what do you say? How can you what do you say to try to convince them and it's just tough it's tough and it's disheartening But you know you just got to keep moving forward and keep keep talking to people we're gonna reach them right?
I love the passion with what you speak because we've introduced these people whose lives were saved These donor families they tell you about it You know the facts and so when you go out you hear something that doesn't fall in line with that you guys kind of want to fight for us Which is what I love? I would you hear that's exactly what I was gonna say Lori what you just mentioned for me when people would have negative thoughts about it When I asked them if they were organizations or get donors I mean I would say instead of combating them with facts how many people were on the waiting list and stuff I would share a story that I heard of how a donor saved a recipient's life and how now this two-year-old little boy gets to spend the rest Of his life with his family and their friends with the donors family and it just creates such a bond that if you said no to Organations that wouldn't be possible you want the emotional right? Yes. Yeah, I'll follow you there All right, so this was a service learning class you guys adopted donation and you gave it your all for this semester So what did you think about donation before we got started?
Where are you now? So I remember actually getting my learners from it I decided to my heart my license only because my mom told me to and I was fine with that She explained it to me and I understood the concept what would happen But it was kind of just put off the table when I got my license. I kept it. I'm really doing this project I've realized how impactful it is for others not necessarily like I'm doing good by Registering and being an organ donor, but it's way more than that It's it's you know, you're donating your organs to someone to save their life and yes It's sad that I might die I don't know when I will but I will be able to help someone and kind of leave my mark on you know a family or a person Whoever that may be and I think that's why people should become organ donors because you just think about I've heard all these inspirational stories And I mean I was tear jerking you know at the rabbily run when people were giving their personal stories I was like, yeah, this is this is awesome.
You know like it really was um, I it just really you know It always stay with me and we like that We hope that we created lifelong advocates, you know and you guys by giving you the facts and by introducing you to these folks That are now our family and we consider you guys are family as well All right, so Tyler did you have a heart on your license? Are you like more committed to it because you sound like you're getting kind of mad out there people aren't signing up my man Like so many other so many other people out there. I just put the heart on my license whenever I got my license You know pat myself and back move on and never really think about it again But going through this process it made me realize how important and how powerful and how meaningful this whole process is and It's it's important to get people to sign up for organization But it's just as important to make people real even if they are already donors to realize what a powerful cause they're backing Another supporting what I get I like that. I was also an organ donor when I got my license I didn't really think much about it.
Obviously I thought it was right I want to do I want to work in if I pass away but working on this campaign has really introduced me to people like you Laurie and Miss Wendy Lipsi who are just on fire for donation and I love I've loved being able to see y'all's passion for it And it's really made me appreciate that this changes people's lives and it's not just hard on the license Yeah, and so this is a service learning curriculum But you took organ ion tissue donation and you made a campaign out of it and you did great with it So how does this help prepare you for the next step because graduations right around the corner? So what's what's one thing if you had to name one thing that you'll take with you I I definitely think working as a team I think that's important because a lot of people have their strengths their weaknesses and other people can really come together and create a really impactful and just amazing campaign that helps Lopa donate life and it brings awareness and knowing how Impactful group of people really can be I think it's really important teamwork and being team-oriented is extremely important And you guys were we're great like jinx mentioned on during the final presentation really no drama Which was pretty good you guys were just focused on the mission and you did right all right So Tyler what about you what you're gonna take away the most important thing for me is just Executing you know you go through college and you learn about this abstract idea of public relations and creating relationships And you're not really sure what it's all about until you actually delve into it and start doing it and for a lot of us I think especially for me it was and I You know it made me realize like maybe I want to do this Maybe this is something I could be good at and so it was just all around a good experience for me Yeah What we try to do our strategy is to empower you guys and then to let your talents roll like we try not to put too many restrictions on you To shine you guys shine so we're loving it alright miss alley you I have always thought I wanted to do corporate events and management in the career world But I was a count executive on this campaign and it made me really appreciate managing people and trying to It was a challenge to be on top of nine others and try to push them to do their best But not be overbearing and be a good team player at the same time Yes, and so I really liked it a lot and so I think now I definitely want to be in the management world of events probably And the future so yeah, I love it alright, so lifelong advocate for donation. Yes or no start with you of course I'm not making them say this absolutely. Yeah, well, we appreciate you guys Irish Irish Communications I'll get it out Iris communications.
That's for you Troy, but we appreciate you guys. Thanks for being on the podcast and thank you For what you do as we have committed to do in every podcast. We honor a hero today that hero is Paula Yolpo and this is from her daughter my mother Paula was lover of nature especially animals Or as long as we can remember we had dogs cats horses as a child turtles and even snakes During our four years living in Alaska she began collecting black bear. She loved them thought they were such beautiful animals She was very creative with crochet all of her grand babies have numerous outfits blankets scarves and hats Paula left behind four daughters and three grand daughters which were the light of her life She was a beautiful person and we are so proud that she was able to touch and change the lives of others through our Gondonation and you can learn more about Paula and other heroes on our heroes page at lopa.org as for right now We are going to pause and we want to say thank you to Paula for the gift of life We have reached our question and answer segment here on the gift of life and this one's for you laurin is it on nervous The question came in how can I get my local college involved in organized issue donation advocacy perfect for this episode It's like written for us.
Well as you heard on jinx say in her interview We were connected to her and to LSU through one student who was impacted by donation So Rachel's dad had a double long transplant and so she wanted to give back That's why she did it and then we took that one class and we helped it grow right because everybody knew the mission and everybody wanted to help right Um, so there are service learning curriculums at each college What I had to do was as a nonprofit go in and pitch what we do and then hope that I was picked And that's how I got in but there are several volunteer groups on campus We're looking for a cause free hands who just needs something to do and they want to do something worthwhile Right so you have to go in there and sell it and there are groups like we had tigers for donating life that you can go and work With them and help them but remember they're busy college students So you have to be flexible and work around their schedules. We all remember being college students, right? I was busy. Are you a part of your own?
You're looking at most of my college, huh? But you're busy, right? And so I think that's our key reflexable and we want to use those talents so badly But our key was a student who was touched by donation was attending college Who just wanted to make a difference and her voice was so loud and her heart was so filled with passion that she was heard And then we all worked on that project which was amazing So as we say one person can make a difference that one person could be you or your son or daughter attending college right now Right 2018 is full of possibilities. All you have to do is press go right we can do that if you have questions info at lopa.org And that folks is another episode of the gifted life We are thankful to you for listening for helping us spread organae and tissue donation awareness are thankful to jinx Rachel and our LSU students who just adopt our mission and want to make us better and save more lives That is a true gift That is the gift you know you talk about one person making the difference that one person can make such a huge difference on so many So many gifts from that one person So thank you all for listening Participating and doing that thing that that Laurie always says to do that one thing to make life happen And we hope that you go out and do something that you don't normally do to help us make life happen And hey guys, we're going to another year right 2018 so we do want to say happy holiday season to you and yours Certainly happy holidays everyone.
Yeah from the gifted life podcast crew and don't forget register me org You can sign up today This is a production of the Louisiana Organ for Carement Agency or Lopa the gifted life is hosted by Laurie Steele, Joey Buudro and Sally Gensri Our producers are Kirsten Hines and Shalom Caraway. We are recorded engineered and mixed in our metery Louisiana studio by Troy Perez