Community News

Faith United Church in Oswego will be hosting a program on organ donation on Thursday, August 2 at 7 PM at their church located at 12 Mark Fitzgibbons Drive, near the Middle School.

The speaker for the program will be the Rev. Jenna Heery, who serves as a Family Services Coordinator for Finger Lakes Donor Recovery Network, a nonprofit that works to save lives through organ donation. Jenna is also a Presbyterian minister, who travels to 36 hospitals in 20 counties throughout central and upstate New York. Her job is to ask families in the hospital if their loved one would have wanted to be an organ donor. If they respond affirmatively, then Jenna walks the family through the process and continues to offer them bereavement support for at least two years after the organ donation of their loved one or for as long as the family is in need.

Jenna is the daughter of a Presbyterian minister and graduated from Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY with a Master of Divinity degree. Before moving to Auburn two years ago, Jenna served as a Hospice Chaplain and as a Hospital Chaplain in Louisville. She also served for a time as a youth pastor for a small country church in Kentucky. If a Presbyterian minister is not serving as pastor of a church, they are generally employed in a “validated ministry” approved by the denomination. In this presbytery, it is believed that this is the first time that a position, like the one which Jenna holds, has been considered as a validated ministry, thereby allowing her to be ordained this past April.

There are over 120,000 people currently waiting for a life-saving organ donation, and many more are in need of life-improving eye and tissue transplants. However, there are too few donors to meet the need, and an estimated 22 people die every day while waiting for a transplant. At the same time, on the donor side, where Jenna serves, there is a grieving family who in the midst of tragedy is given new and tangible hope that a part of their loved one may live on and help save other lives.

After listening to Jenna speak, those in attendance will be able to sign up to become organ donors. Though New York state has lagged behind the national donor registration rate, in 2017, New York had the 4th fastest growing registry in the country. Even more exciting is that the 20 counties served by Finger Lakes Donor Recovery Network boasts a donor enrollment rate of nearly 41%. But the need is still great.

It is important for all New York residents (age 16 years or older) to make an informed decision about organ, eye and tissue donation and document their decision. It is very important to then share those wishes with family so that they know in advance.

Faith United Church is excited to be offering this program to the greater Oswego community. There is no charge to attend this program. Though most people would consider what Jenna does very difficult, Jenna says that she “loves” her job. She further states that the most profound moment in her position is when she can tell a family that their loved one was able to save three ,or four, or five, or more lives. Jenna says, “ This is the hardest thing that I have ever done, but it is perhaps the best thing that I will ever do.”

To get more information or for questions, call the church office Monday-Friday from 10-2 at 315-343-3480.