JULY 8, 2005

Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land today recognized Gladwin residents Max and Gloria Schindler with a Shining Star award for their many achievements in promoting organ and tissue donation.

Land created the Shining Star award to recognize those whose exceptional efforts encourage greater organ donor awareness. Organ donation touched the Schindler’s lives when their 15-year-old daughter, Sarah, was tragically killed in an automobile accident in the early 1990s. Her generous gift of organ and tissue donation helped others in need. Since then, the Schindlers have donated tremendous time and effort to championing donation.

"Gloria and Max Schindler are to be commended for taking a personal tragedy and turning it into the life-affirming gift of organ and tissue donation," Land said. "For the past 15 years, they have devoted themselves to promoting greater awareness about the need for donors and the lives that can be saved. Their message, coupled with their passion and energy, means that more people are learning about the tremendous difference the gift of life can make to someone waiting for a transplant."

The Schindlers recently organized a memorial rosebush planting at MidMichigan Medical Center in Gladwin with fellow donor parents, Rick and Lori Fall. Characterized as the names synonymous with organ donation in the county, the Schindler’s accomplishments include:

• Forming a peer grief-resource group for donor families in northern Michigan
• Creating a memorial scholarship in Sarah’s name for students at Gladwin High School
• Becoming founding members of the Gift of Life Michigan Donor Family Advisory Committee and the Michigan Donor Family Foundation
• Presenting an organ donation program at Dow Chemical, which included distributing donor enrollment forms with paychecks
• Acting as National Kidney Foundation donor family liaisons for the U.S. Transplant Olympic Games
• Singing the national anthem at a Detroit Tiger donor awareness game as well as performing at the Michigan Donor Family Foundation’s "Remembering You" gala
• Volunteering as "Buddies" for several years at the Gladwin Secretary of State branch office during Buddy Day to promote greater organ and tissue donor awareness
• Recognizing funeral homes that support donation with a commemorative plaque as part of the Gift of Life Funeral Home Project
• Organizing and participating in various donor-related events at churches, Rotary clubs and schools

The Schindlers were nominated for the Shining Star award by staff at Gift of Life Michigan in Ann Arbor.

"The Schindlers have shown immeasurable strength and compassion in their willingness to devote time and energy by sharing their story of love and loss," said Tom Beyersdorf, executive director for Gift of Life Michigan. "Their efforts to promote donor awareness have given others a second chance at life."

The Shining Star award is the latest organ donor initiative undertaken by the Department of State. The department also has a primary role in collecting names for Michigan’s organ, tissue and eye donor registry through its online enrollment program at www.Michigan.gov/sos. Donor cards are also available in branch offices and are mailed with driver’s licenses and state identification cards.

Other organ donor programs supported by the department include Buddy Day, an event held each April in which Gift of Life Michigan and Michigan Eye-Bank volunteers meet with the public at Secretary of State branch offices to discuss organ and tissue donation. Land also encourages continued organ donor awareness through her Organ and Tissue Donor Advisory Committee and by fostering active partnerships with organ donor advocates statewide.

For more information about the Shining Star award and other Department of State organ donor programs, please visit www.Michigan.gov/sos.