How To Write to Recipients

Often, donor families and transplant recipients find comfort in hearing from each other. A simple card, note or letter can be uplifting to a recipient and reassure a donor family that they made a wonderful decision to help others in the midst of their grief.

Talk about yourself and your loved one. Tell about their hobbies. Describe your loved one - what kind of person he/she was, the kind of work he/she did, whether or not he/she had children. Mention special memories. Explain how the donation process has helped your family deal with the loss.

Sign your first name only and do not reveal your last name, city, phone number or name of the hospital or e-mail address.

Send the letter to LifeShare and on a separate sheet of paper, include your name, the donor's name and date of donation so that we can forward it to the appropriate recipient.

How to Find a Support Group
Support or self-help groups are organizations of people who work together to share information, feelings and suggestions on their area of focus. Several support groups in this area concentrate on grief and bereavement. If you are interested in finding a support group, the following organizations can help:

In North Carolina and Nationally:

Hospice is located in nearly every county in the Carolinas. Most of them sponsor bereavement support groups. Your loved one does not have to have been a Hospice patient for you to participate in their programs. If you are interested in finding a support group, call Hospice in your county or the surrounding counties or log onto the website below to find a Hospice group in your area: www.homeandhospicecare.org/directory.

The Compassionate Friends is a support group for parents of a child who has died. To see if there is a group in your area, call 877-969-0010 or log onto: www.compassionatefriends.org.

GriefShare is for anyone grieving the death of a loved one, and is available in many areas of the country. Most of these groups meet in and are sponsored by churches. For information, visit: www.griefshare.org.

Care-Line, a service of the NC Dept of Human Resources, has information on the larger support groups in every NC county. Their number is 800-662-7030

In Mecklenburg County:

KinderMourn is a grief counseling service for families who have lost a child. Call 704-376-2580.