Gospel artist Christopher Page was nominated for a 2010 Stellar Award for "Contemporary Group/Duo of the Year" for his release, A Page From My Heart, recorded with his group, The Dream Keeper's Ensemble. The album includes the popular song, "Sanctified Slide."
But instead of resting on his laurels, Page is using his platform to promote organ donation by joining forces with the National Office of Transplantation and Donate Life America to encourage more African Americans and Christians to commit to becoming organ donors.
The "Giving Life through Gospel Music" campaign started on November 13, 2009 during National Donor Sabbath Weekend and ends on August 1, 2010 on National Minority Donor Awareness Day.
As part of the partnership, Page will donate a portion of his album sales to Donate Life America. He will have information available about the benefits of organ donation available at each performance during his "Sanctified Slide Tour" and will also host workshops and conduct interviews across the country to address some of the myths, obstacles and fears associated with organ donation.
According to Donate Life America, the need for multicultural donors is great; in 2008, African American donors represented only 4,579 of the 22,927 transplants.
"More than half of the national transplant waiting list is made up of multicultural populations," the website says. "That's because some diseases of the kidney, heart, lung, pancreas and liver that are best treated through transplantation are found more frequently in these populations. For example, African Americans and other minorities are three times more likely to suffer from end-stage renal disease than Caucasians."
It is possible for candidates and donors from different racial or ethnic groups to match for a transplant, but "transplant success rates increase when organs are matched between members of the same ethnic background." Hence the need for more education among minority groups.
Page himself was a recipient of a cornea transplant in 2009, and is expecting another in 2010.
In a press release, he said, "It is an honor to be nominated and possibly win the Stellar Award, but this honor means nothing if I can't use it to make a difference in someone's life. The way that I think about it is that I couldn't read the ballot or my lyrics if it weren't for someone else deciding to give me the gift of sight."
For more about Christopher Page, visit his Facebook page or his website.
For more about organ donation, visit the Donate Life America website
Visit this blog post to see the entire list of 2010 Stellar Award nominees.
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