Lifesharing

12/09/2025

🎥: “DURING HIS LAST BREATH, THE SONG 'SOULMATE' WAS PLAYING” — In an emotional speech, Dolores Williamson pays tribute to her late husband Dave Williamson, a Lifesharing organ and tissue donor. Speaking at our office in Mission Valley, Dolores explained how their love story began and why she never questioned her husband's decision to register as an organ and tissue donor. In 2023, Dave suffered a medical episode from which he could not recover (his brain had been robbed of oxygen for too long) and Dolores followed through on his final wish to donate organs and tissues at the end of life. Lifesharing coordinated Dave's donation, finding matching recipients for his heart, liver and kidneys. Dave saved four lives and donated tissues as well. Toward the end of the video, Dolores reads a portion of the beautiful letter she received from the wife of one of the transplant recipients.
This video was recorded in October 2024 when Dolores spoke to a group of Lifesharing volunteers, in a meeting organized by Lifesharing High School Outreach leader Christy Heymann. We thought it was appropriate to share the video in December, because many people consider this time to be “the season of giving”. Dave’s final act of kindness reminds us that the gift of life is truly the greatest gift anyone can give.
For more information on becoming an organ and tissue donor in California, go to our website: https://www.lifesharing.org/become-a-donor/ (https://www.lifesharing.org/become-a-donor/)
Video shot and edited by Lifesharing Public Relations Director Anne State
Lifesharing is the organ procurement organization (OPO) serving San Diego and Imperial counties in Southern California. We coordinate organ and tissue donation at the end of life.


🎥: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/FIijFKcos7M

12/03/2025

🌟 SAVING EVEN MORE LIVES THROUGH INNOVATION 🌟 Did you know that most people on the transplant waiting list are waiting for a kidney? 🫁 That’s why our surgical services team is trained in advanced kidney preservation techniques — to help keep donated kidneys healthier for longer, giving transplant recipients a better chance at a longer life. Lifesharing organ procurement nurse Jordan Serati joined this week’s training as well. (She’s the one giving a thumbs-up for the camera.) Swipe ⬅️ left to see both photos of our team in action. The surgical services specialists featured in the group shot (L-R) are: Erin Bisceglia, Halie Peterson, Avi Madani and Aurora Gonzalez.
This kidney lab was organized by Lifesharing Surgical Services Supervisor Billy Snyder — he’s a big proponent of continuing education. He was also kind enough to take these photos for us 😊

11/25/2025

Beautiful news story on Lifesharing’s Organ Donor Honoree for the Rose Parade 🌹

Discover how Drew Wilson-Chan’s joyful spirit continues to unite and save lives. See the touching tribute at the 2026 Rose Parade.

11/24/2025

🎥 NEW VIDEO: 🌹LIFESHARING IS PROUD TO ANNOUNCE ITS ORGAN DONOR HONOREE FOR THE 2026 ROSE PARADE: Drew Wilson-Chan, 4, of Poway, California 🌹 His floral portrait will be featured on the OneLegacy as it glides down Colorado Boulevard on New Year’s Day in Pasadena. Young Drew became a Lifesharing organ and tissue donor in 2022. His parents said “yes” to donation because they believe it’s what their son would have wanted: Drew was always helping others. As an organ donor, he saved three lives when Lifesharing found matching recipients for his heart and both kidneys. His organ donation took place at Hospital. Drew also donated knee cartilage and one of his corneas.
Drew’s parents, David Wilson and Sabrina Chan, created their son’s floral portrait (floragraph) for the using organic materials such as seeds and coffee grounds. In this video, they describe Drew’s bright spirit and joyful nature... and how they tried to capture both in the portrait.
Lifesharing is the federally-designated organ procurement organization (OPO) serving San Diego and Imperial counties in Southern California. We’re a proud sponsor of the OneLegacy Donate Life Float.
Video shot and edited by Lifesharing Public Relations Director Anne State.
Our endless gratitude to the Wilson-Chan family and all of our donor families in the San Diego region💙💚


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Lifesharing is a proud sponsor of the OneLegacy Donate Life Rose Parade Float. Every year, we select one of our organ donor heroes to be posthumously hono...

11/11/2025

🎥 NEW VIDEO: MOTHER OF U.S. MARINE MEETS WOMAN WHO RECEIVED HER LATE SON’S KIDNEY: In honor of Veterans Day, we are releasing new video from an emotional family meeting we hosted several weeks ago: Michelle Lowenthal, mother of USMC SGT Matthew Lowenthal, met kidney recipient Laura Gaytan at our offices in Mission Valley. Michelle said that meeting Laura was “the completion of that last puzzle piece”. The two women cried and hugged as they shared their journeys of grief and hope -- together, they represent both sides of the organ donation and transplantation process.
USMC SGT Lowenthal was stationed at MCAS Miramar when he passed away in a motorcycle accident off base in 2019. SGT Lowenthal was a registered organ donor and Lifesharing carried out his final wish of wanting to help others; our organ team identified Laura as a match for one of Sgt Lowenthal's kidneys.
Lifesharing Family Services Specialist Kylee Groon organized the poignant meeting that united the two women, forever bonding them through the miracle of donation. Kylee also invited our colleagues from Sharp HealthCare — the hospital where Laura received her kidney transplant.
🎥 Video shot and edited by Lifesharing Public Relations Director Anne State
On this Veterans Day, we honor and thank all who have served 🇺🇸


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In honor of Veterans Day, we are releasing new video from an emotional family meeting we hosted several weeks ago: Michelle Lowenthal, mother of USMC SGT M...

10/31/2025

🎥 NEW VIDEO: HONORING OUR ORGAN AND TISSUE DONORS FOR DIA DE LOS MU***OS ~ Lifesharing is proud to unveil its ofrenda (altar) for Día de los Mu***os (Day of the Dead), featuring the photos of many of the organ donors who helped us save a record number of lives last year.
Lifesharing speakers in order of appearance:
Rosie Zavala
Billy Snyder
Kylee Groon
Video shot and edited by Anne State
Lifesharing's Día de los Mu***os event was spearheaded by Melissa Culver with assistance from our organ and tissue family services teams, as well as team members from other Lifesharing departments.

🎥:

Lifesharing is proud to unveil its ofrenda (altar) for Día de los Mu***os (Day of the Dead), featuring the photos of many of the organ donors who helped us s...

10/21/2025

🌸 THINK PINK: October may be ending soon, but the fight against breast cancer continues every single day.
Lifesharing Family Services Director Wendy Garrison (L) and .info President Ieesha Johnson (R) stood side by side at the annual meeting of the Association of American Tissue Banks (AATB) last week. Donated tissue plays a vital role in helping breast cancer patients recover after a mastectomy and reconstruction. Donated tissue improves healing.
Last year, Lifesharing recovered tissues from 470 selfless tissue donors in the San Diego region.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
AMAT = the Association for Multicultural Affairs in Transplantation. The group is dedicated to increasing organ and tissue donation among multicultural communities. We are proud to partner with them.

10/16/2025

THE GREAT CALIFORNIA SHAKEOUT! Lifesharing team members were among the millions of Californians who took part in the statewide earthquake drill this morning at 10:16 AM.
Drop, cover, and hold on!

10/07/2025

Thank you NBC 7 San Diego for sharing the emotional story that took place at Lifesharing last week ~

Sgt. Matthew Lowenthal was in a motorcycle accident in 2019 while on his way to MCAS Miramar base and died on Oct. 15 — his 24th birthday.

10/03/2025

“MATTHEW LIVES!” – exclaimed Lifesharing Donor Mom Michelle Lowenthal (R) as she hugs Laura Gaytan, the patient who received her son’s kidney.    Six years ago, Michelle’s son – USMC SGT Matthew Lowenthal – died from injuries suffered in a motorcycle accident.   Lifesharing worked with the transplant team at Sharp HealthCare to carry out the Marine’s final wishes as a registered organ donor.   Michelle and Laura met in person for the first time yesterday (Thursday Oct 2, 2025) at Lifesharing, in a meeting organized by Family Services Specialist Kylee Groon.   Both and covered the story – check out their websites to watch video of the emotional meeting.
Lifesharing and Sharp HealthCare hosted both women for a luncheon immediately following their meeting.    Attendees included Melanie B and Natalie G from Sharp HealthCare +  Lifesharing team members Patrick Balakian, Gwennie Mai, Matt Kidder, Michelle Tilley, Kylee Groon and Anne State.
Swipe left ⬅️ to view photos.
Lifesharing is proud to unite families through organ donation and transplantation.    For more information, go to our website at Lifesharing.org

09/30/2025

CONGRATS TO LIFESHARING VOLUNTEERS MARLON GARDINERA AND LEEANN PUSATERI — WINNERS OF OUR “GOLDEN MIC AWARD” 🎤 In the 2024-2025 school year, our volunteers educated 15K local students about organ donation. Volunteers LeeAnn Pusateri and Marlon Gardinera each spoke to 60 classes and educated 6K+ students! They have a friendly competition each year to see who can speak to the most classrooms 😄 We are so grateful to them for giving so much of their time to the cause… We thought it was appropriate to recognize them with the Golden Mic Awards. A heartfelt thanks to all our volunteers….

09/25/2025

🎥 NEW VIDEO - “THIS IS LIFESHARING” 💙💚 Every single day, we go to work with the intent of saving lives and bringing healing to the families of organ and tissue donors. Yesterday, Lifesharing Executive Director Jeff Trageser was asked to give a presentation at UC San Diego Health’s CEO Town Hall meeting. Chief Executive Officer Patty Maysent played this video right before Jeff’s talk. It’s a short film that shows some of the beautiful moments that we have witnessed through our work in the field of organ and tissue donation. Thank you to the leadership at UC San Diego Health for supporting our mission and giving us the opportunity to educate staff about the organ donation process.
Lifesharing is honored and privileged to serve donor families in San Diego and Imperial counties.
Our special thanks to the families of Lifesharing organ donors Jarrell David Dent and Leia Parker for letting us share their stories.
🎥: https://youtu.be/G_QUw3xgjZI
Video shot and edited by Lifesharing Public Relations Director Anne State.

Lifesharing is a nonprofit group that coordinates organ and tissue donation at the end of life. We are the federally-designated organ procurement organizat...