Sharing from the heart
New Jersey Sharing Network partners with
law enforcement to promote organ and tissue donation
n BY STEPHANIE JONES
Inside a person’s most desperate hour, when the human spirit’s airy thinness is stretched to an unknowable limit, compassion has a curious way of strengthening resilience. Selflessness
can help people remember who they are, when they’ve all but
lost themselves in the midst of tragedy and despair. No person has a more comprehensive understanding of the power of
compassionate response during crises than Assistant Director
of Resource Development at the New Jersey Sharing Network
Jackie Lue Raia. She is the one who places the call when someone barely has begun to process the death of a loved one, and
asks that person somehow to share, out of loss, the gift of life.
“What we try to do is get the community to understand the
importance of saying ‘yes’ to donations so that, in the event an
individual becomes a potential donor, their loved ones know
what their wishes are – because time is of the essence,” Lue Raia
explains.
Headquartered in New Providence, the Sharing Network is
New Jersey’s federally designated, principal advocate for the
procurement of organ and tissue donation. Working with hospitals throughout North and Central Jersey, and partnering
with similar networks to cross-match and place organs across
the U.S., the Network’s mission to increase awareness about the
Become an organ and
tissue donor
Log on to
https://www.registerme.
org to register
importance of compassionate donation has allowed the number of organs for transplant in New Jersey to quadruple during
the past nearly three decades. Among the many recipients of
those donations, retired State Crime Prevention Officer Russ
Jackson has become an advocate for the Network’s mission,
and recently had the opportunity to share his experience at the
October NJ State PBA meeting, engaging a room full of delegates and other first responders by telling his story.
Jackson, who served for more than 20 years in Harrison and
received a new heart from an unknown donor just five years
ago, now meets with his donor family at a diner in Freehold every Christmas Eve. After receiving his new heart, he was able to
return to work, before retiring for good. Feeling honored to be
able to speak in front of so many State Delegates, Jackson also
finds himself driven by a responsibility he takes seriously.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 50
www.njcopsmagazine.com
■ NOVEMBER 2016 49