Oct. 10, 2007 — Delegate Donna M. Christensen has urged residents to recommit to traditional Virgin Islands values of love and support for family members and show support for the activities of V.I. Family Month.
"A healthy family, mentally, physically and emotionally, translates into a healthy community," said Lillian Sutherland, coordinator in the territory for the Minority Organ/Tissue Transplant Education Program (MOTTEP).
Members of MOTTEP's Save Our Community committee are also encouraging participation this month in family- and community-centered activities. They include Let's Go Fly a Kite, coming up Saturday at Chenay Bay Resort, and It’s a Family Affair Walk Oct. 27.
Let's Go Fly a Kite, sponsored by Paradise 93.5 radio and Chenay Bay Resort, will have activities for all ages from noon to 4 p.m. There will be prizes for different categories of kites, as well as face painting, balloon art, magic, donkey rides on Eeyore and more. Cheney will provide a reasonably priced meal of hot dogs, hamburgers, veggie burgers and a side. Participants are also welcome to use Chenay's beach, pool, and playground.
It's a Family Affair Walk, in its fifth year, will begin at 6 a.m. Oct. 27 at the Sunny Isle Kentucky Fried Chicken and proceed to the Department of Agriculture Fairgrounds.
"We do move on time," said Sutherland, organizer of the walk.
Even people who don't have a family member to walk with are encouraged to come, walk and talk to the people next to them. The purpose of the walk is to interact with people. "Don't bring cell phones or iPods," Sutherland said.
Free T-shirts, donated by the Office of Highway Safety, will be given away as long as supplies last. There will be a Crucian breakfast available for purchase until 11 a.m. The St. Croix Heritage Dancers, under the direction of Bradley Christian, will give Quadrille dance lessons. There will be four food vendors, one serving Latin food.
Divi Resort is sponsoring a husband-and-wife game at the walk where a couple finds out how much they know about each other. The winners will get a three-day, two-night stay at the resort.
The walk is free. There is no registration, and it ends at noon.
"We hope this walk spills over to embrace others and bring people together," Sutherland said.
The goals of the Walk and MOTTEP are interrelated in that they encourage family members to take care of each other and take care of their health.
MOTTEP's mission is to educate people about the shortage of organs and encourage them to donate organs and tissue, Sutherland said. "We have to take care of our health to reduce the need for transplants," she said.
Christensen, a medical doctor and chair of the Congressional Black Caucus's Health Braintrust, said in a recent news release that organ and tissue transplantation are critical components of health care for men and women living with cancer, diabetes, hypertension and other chronic and acute conditions. In the territory, she explained, the disproportionate burden of cancers, diabetes and hypertension — as well as low levels of physical activity and unhealthy dietary decisions and high rates of obesity — all contribute to making organ and tissue transplant needs key issues.
Sutherland became involved with MOTTEP after meeting a young woman at her church who had the courage to come forward and say she needs a kidney because she was in the end stage of renal disease.
"I wanted to do something to help her," Sutherland said. She planned a birthday party for the woman and raised $18,000. Five kidney donors came forward.
In 1998, Howard University asked Christensen if she knew of someone to promote V.I. MOTTEP, and Christensen went to Sutherland.
Since she got involved in MOTTEP, Sutherland said, her husband and brother-in-law have had transplants. "When you help someone you, just never know where it will lead you," she said.
There is a core care group of 15 who are able to counsel and educate people about transplants. MOTTEP is under the umbrella of the St. Croix Foundation. For more information about MOTTEP and other family events in October, call Sutherland at 778-9160.
“I salute MOTTEP for its forward-thinking, realistic and sensitive approach to raising awareness of these issues in our community, and focusing on prevention and reducing the need for organ and tissue transplant in the territory,” Christensen said.
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