TAMPA, Fla – (November 18, 2015) – Ninety-three unique pieces of artwork were submitted to LifeLink® of Florida by local high school students in Hillsborough, Lee and DeSoto counties for the second annual Art of Donation Holiday Card Contest. From these, four winning designs were chosen to adorn holiday cards for LifeLink®’, which will be shared with donor family members, transplant recipients, community partners and the public.
“The artwork submitted for this year’s contest was phenomenal,” said Liz Lehr, Executive Director of LifeLink of Florida. “We loved the unique approach each student took to translate organ donation and transplantation into artwork.”
First through third place winners were chosen, along with two special recognition prizes for community choice and Facebook favorite. Jadelyn Chipi, Gaither High School (Hillsborough County), took first prize; Chloe Chatfield, Blake High School (Hillsborough County), took second; and in third place there was a tie between Thu Anh Tran Duong, Bloomingdale High School (Hillsborough County) and Melonie Soria Reyes, Cypress Lake High School (Lee County). Judging for first, second and third place was done by a panel of community partners and LifeLink leadership and prizes include an iPad, iPod and Kindle Fire, whereas the community choice and Facebook favorite, which earned gift cards, were chosen by LifeLink volunteers and employees, and others within the donation community, or Facebook likes, respectively. All of the winners, and nearly all the entries, incorporated the themes of selfless giving and kindness into their designs. The winning pieces can be viewed at www.LifeLinkFoundation.org/ArtOfDonation.
More than 123,000 people across the nation, and more than 5,000 in Florida, await a lifesaving organ transplant. Hundreds of thousands more could benefit from tissue donation each year. Please consider registering your decision to save lives on Florida’s organ and tissue donor registry today, by visiting www.DonateLifeFlorida.org on the web, or while visiting your local tax collector office where driver licenses are issued. Contact LifeLink of Florida for more information at 800-262-5775.
LifeLink of Florida is the non-profit, federally designated community service organization which facilitates organ and tissue donation in fourteen counties in west and southwest Florida, and Martin County on the east coast. We have been serving this community for more than 30 years, and during that time we have worked with scores of families whose loved ones saved lives.