Author Archive
65_RedRoses Comes to Edmonton! An Interview with Campaign Volunteer Michelle
On May 27th, Edmonton will host a special screening of 65_RedRoses, the last Canadian screening of the film during May CF Month! Attendees will be able to purchase DVDs and other great campaign awareness materials, such as t-shirts, necklaces and art cards, so don’t miss it!
In preparation for the event, we thought we would interview one of our keen Edmonton volunteers, Michelle. Michelle has been a longtime supporter of the film and campaign in her local community as well as online, and has been instrumental in supporting our outreach efforts in Edmonton. We asked Michelle to share her story about Eva with our blog readers.
I first read about Eva’s journey in late 2009 when I was going through a particularly rough patch in my life. My grandfather had just passed away and I was having a lot of issues with my own health. I didn’t get the chance or opportunity to meet her personally, but I felt a connection to her struggle with her own health even though each of our battles was very much different. I could understand her frustration but was amazed by the positive energy that she gave off despite her struggles with an incurable condition. Her ability to accept her own circumstances and bring about positive change because of it helped me slowly learn to accept my own struggles and help change the way I dealt with them.
Apps for Organ Donation! Our #4Eva App Is Here!
We’re so excited to follow up the huge success of our 65_RedRoses US premiere on OWN with the arrival of our free #4Eva mobile app! So many of you tweeted or wrote on our Facebook wall about how Eva’s story motivated you to become an organ donor, or encouraged you to talk to the people in your life about registering as organ donors. So we’ve made it easy- just download our app, share your status as a donor, and watch the love grow!
We’re not the only ones with this brilliant idea- last week, Facebook launched a tool in partnership with Donate Life America to encourage people to share their organ donor status and encourage their friends to register! The response was incredible, with more than 100,000 people registering their organ donor status within 24 hours. We hope that everyone who was thrilled about the Facebook initative will also share their status with our #4Eva app, and that the folks in Canada who can’t use the Facebook app yet will enjoy hopping on the awareness train by downloading ours! Plus, our app has a few special features that make it unique.
US Premiere of 65_RedRoses on OWN tonight! Show Your Support!
It’s finally here! Tonight at 9/8c, 65_RedRoses will premiere on OWN Documentary Club! We’re so excited to finally share the film with our American audiences who have been waiting to see the film! Judging by this rave review of the film in the NY Times, we think you won’t be disappointed.
Want to show your support for this great film and movement? We have five easy ways!
Register with our organ donation app. By sharing that you are an organ donor in North America, you can actually watch the love grow on the map, with a tally of potential lives saved! (PS. our mobile version will be available on iPhone and Android soon! Stay tuned…)
Tweet at your favourite celeb about the broadcast. We’re tweeting @Oprah, @JustinBieber, and @TheEllenShow, hoping that they’ll RT the film and show their support for organ donation and CF awareness!
65_RedRoses Premiere on OWN May 3! Help us spread the word!
We can hardly contain our excitement about the US premiere of 65_RedRoses, happening TODAY! We need your help to get the word out.
Here are three easy actions you can take to encourage your community to watch the film on Thursday, May 3rd at 9/8C on OWN!
1. Share the trailer on your Facebook wall. You can find and share it easily from Vimeo. Please post with the time and date so your Facebook friends know when to tune in, and share your reason for wanting to see the film.
2. Send out a tweet to your followers: “US premier @65_RedRoses Thur May3 9/8c @OWNTV! Trailer http://bit.ly/JZPVv2 Join the movement #4Eva Plz RT!”
3. Check out our press kit! After signing up, you can access great information and images about the 65_RedRoses #4Eva campaign that you can share with friends and family! (more…)
Update on the Girls of 65_RedRoses: Meg and Kina
One of the most common questions after a screening is, how are Meg and Kina doing? The film tells the rest of Eva’s story, but moviegoers aren’t sure what happens to her closest online friends. At the end of the film, Kina is doing well but still struggling with chronic rejection, and Meg is trying to get into a treatment program to address her substance use and improve her health.
Well, we checked in with both girls recently and are pleased to share that they both have wonderful news. In February, Meg gave birth to a health baby boy named Aven. She’s moved back to Idaho to be near her family, and is seven months sober. While her health still has ups and downs she was able to carry her pregnancy to term, and Aven is a beautiful baby boy (as you can see on her Livejournal!)
Kina has good news to share as well: she and her girlfriend Abby are expecting a baby boy in August! While she has still been experiencing some post-transplant health struggles, she’s looking forward to being a mom this summer. We borrowed this photo of Abby’s sonogram from her Livejournal, Spirit of Kina. (more…)
Cyrus and Eva: A Partnership that Launched a Movement #4Eva
The photos that Cyrus McEachern and Eva Markvoort created together sparked BC Transplant’s “Live Life. Pass It On.” Campaign, and have inspired and captivated thousands of people around the province since their creation. Today on the blog, we share the story of their friendship and the creation of those life-changing photos.
Cyrus and Eva met through co-director Phil Lyall during the filming of 65_RedRoses when the three of them all went to the beach just a few months before Eva’s pager would go off.
“I didn’t know how sick she was, but I had heard about her and the film,” Cyrus remembers, “And then going back up the stairs [from the beach] to the car, she needed like half an hour to catch her breath. I thought, Wow, this poor girl really needs new lungs.”
After Eva received her transplant, she began attending UBC, where Cyrus was in his first year of medical school. “We met for lunches and just kind of connected. She was an awesome person. We’d get together and talk about life.”
“One of my professors organizes a yearly photography contest based around the heart—she’s a cardiology professor. I think it’s called “Heartfelt Images.” And some of my friends knew I was really into photography, and were really pressuring me to win it and put a lot of effort in. I had a few ideas, but I didn’t really have a person to take a photo of.” When he mentioned it, Eva eagerly agreed to be his model.
Watch this exclusive teaser from the DVD Extras of Cyrus talking about creating the first images: (more…)
Eco-Edition DVD has arrived in Canada! Get yours today!
We know many of you have been waiting patiently for weeks to get your hands on a copy of the new cut of the film, so we were thrilled when the Eco-Edition DVDs finally arrived a few days ago! In fact, we were so excited we got our web designer Atef to model with them for this photo. Canadian shoppers can order theirs today by visiting the Hello Cool World store.
We’re in love with the packaging! Not only does it feature beautiful work from the collaboration between Eva and Cyrus McEachern, but each DVD case is plastic free and printed on 100% recycled paper. Plus, the covers are printed with environmentally-friendly ink using waterless technology! Gorgeous and earth-friendly so you can feel good about your order. (more…)
It’s National Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Week!
April 22-28 marks National Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Week in Canada! Since we know that’s a mouthful, we’re using a few other hashtags to talk about the events this week on Twitter: #NOTDAW, #BeADonor and of course, #4Eva.
As you may also know, April is Donate Life Month in the US as well, so no matter where you are in North America, take some time this week to reflect on organ donation & the value of registering as a donor! Please register as a donor this week if you haven’t found the time yet, and if you have, ask someone in your life to register!
Here at 65_RedRoses campaign headquarters we are working on a FREE organ donation app #4Eva. It will make it easy to find out how to sign up as a donor anywhere in North America. We’re also totally excited to finally have the new cut of the film available in Canada (the ultra-eco one is shipping now). All sales of the DVD and our other materials based on Cyrus photos and Eva’s designs support our outreach campaign. The pair also did the gorgeous photo series that form BC Tranplant’s #livelifepassiton series.
Here are a few great activities happening this week for #NOTDAW:
Exclusive Teaser from the DVD Extras: The Day the Pager Went Off
We’re so excited that our eco-edition DVDs have finally arrived in the Hello Cool World store in Canada! To share our enthusiasm with friends and fans of the film, we wanted to show some sneak peeks of the DVD extras on the blog.
Check back on the 65_RedRoses blog daily for more exclusive teasers and updates, or follow us on Facebook and Twitter to hear first new posts!
The first teaser comes from the interviews with co-directors Phil Lyall and Nimisha Mukerji about the day Eva’s pager went off.
Eva’s writing a source of inspiration for Connecticut student living with CF
A few weeks ago we got a Twitter message that touched our hearts: Taylor Brophy (pictured here), a soon-to-be high school graduate in Connecticut, contacted us to share that she had written a short essay about Eva.
She is applying for a CFCareForward undergraduate scholarship and was asked to write about a person who had inspired her. She found a role model in Eva, a fellow young woman living with CF who worked hard to balance her health and achieve her goals.
She has generously given us permission to share her essay on the 65_RedRoses blog. (more…)
