Flag-raising ceremony honors organ donation awareness at Allegheny Valley Hospital

A small crowd gathered Monday in the courtyard at Allegheny Valley Hospital to raise awareness about the gift of life.

A flag-raising ceremony at 11 a.m. honored those who have donated organs and called attention to the need for more people to register, organizers said. The event was outside the hospital along Carlisle Street in Harrison.

More than 110,000 people are awaiting organ transplants in the U.S., including more than 2,500 people in Pennsylvania, according to Allegheny Health Network.

April is earmarked as National Donate Life Month.

Multi-organ recipient Eric Wolf shared his story with those in attendance.

Participants also included hospital President and CEO Vicenta Gaspar-Yoo; Director of Nursing Professional Practice and Education Michelle DeFabio; and Kristen Stone, a representative from the Center for Organ Recovery and Education in O’Hara.

Donor family member Vincenne Revilla spoke about her late mother, Jean Revilla, who had long intended to be an organ donor.

Throughout her life, Jean Revilla was connected to her community, Vincenne said.

She volunteered with Girl Scouts for more than 30 years, was a leader at senior citizens’ events and organized bus trips well into her 80s.

“Knowing her kindness lives on through her legacy (of organ donation) is something that is reflective of the way she lived her life,” Vincenne said in her speech.

Jean Revilla passed away in 2017, and her desire to be an organ donor was put into effect.

“There have been 109 people who have been helped with transplanted skin grafts as a result of our mother’s donation,” Vincenne said. “I’m sure this is exactly what she would have hoped for, to continue to help others in need.”