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Please support our distributor Hello Cool World for their IdeaBOOST proposal!
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“As a distributor of 65_RedRoses, Hello Cool World has ensured that the campaign for organ donation and CF research continues to reach Canadians through classrooms and theatres. Their goal, to create positive social change through film and media, makes them a worthy recipient of IdeaBOOST!”
– Nimisha Mukerji, co-director of 65_REDROSES
Hello Cool World is the force behind this website, the Canadian distributor for the film, and directs the entire #4Eva Campaign so please support this project which has the potential to help the 65_RedRoses campaign get even bigger! It’s fast and free – so BOOST them now! Hello Cool World also puts all their profits into this campaign, which is volunteer run. Voting – AKA ‘Boosting’ only lasts one more week, so lets get them boosted into the lead!
Hello Cool World’s plan is to build a platform to help the creators of social change films and projects to get their work out there, that will help audiences (like you!) more easily support the causes they care about. Each campaign will be part of a larger network that can share content and audiences, amplifying the efforts for all. (more…)
My Hero – by Savilla Kress
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Have you considered becoming a registered organ donor? I registered when I was 16 years old. I believe the expression “You can’t take it with you” also applies to your body. It’s a nice feeling knowing that when I pass on, I could save up to 50 lives. I could never have known then that one day I would need a kidney transplant myself.
The person who donated his kidney to me is a man named Stephen McClelland. He found out online that I was in end stage renal failure, and he wanted to help. We had never met. He stepped forward to donate one of his kidneys to me. It was an incredible gift Stephen gave me… Life. (more…)
April & May – campaigning #4Eva!
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If you’ve been following our blog you’ll know that April is Organ Donation Month (they call it National Donate Life Month in the U.S) and May is CF Awareness Month. Last May 65_RedRoses aired on the Oprah Winfrey Network, and they played our PSA!
Now we are an entirely volunteer-run campaign, trying to get the film and the message out to as many people as we can to support these two important causes.
We are honoured that Hot Docs (which is where 65_RedRoses launched, with Eva in attendance) has chosen our film to be part of their 20th Anniversary celebration screening series comprised of the 20 award-winning films representing the past 20 years. It screens Tuesday April 9, in Toronto at The Bloor Cinema, 6:30 pm. If you are in Toronto and can go to the screening you’ll see our amazing team of volunteers selling DVDs & tees and hopefully signing you up to our campaign. If you are not in TO, never fear, we’ll be tweeting for the cause and posting pics from the screening on Twitter and Facebook.
DO YOU WANT TO HELP US?
It’s as easy as sharing our posts and re-tweeting out tweets! If you are more ambitious you can host a screening as a fundraiser to the organ donation & CF organizations you want to support. You could organize a local #4Eva team, to table, poster and spread the word! Read on for ways you can get involved. (more…)
Update on Kina, from Nimisha
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Friends of 65_RedRoses,
With the recent passing of our friend Meg we wanted to give you all an update on Kina. Kina’s good friend Anthony was kind enough to send us some information since at the moment she has been admitted to Cleveland Clinic. In recent months she has been in and out of hospitals in the Pittsburgh area for various reasons. While a number of unfortunate events (including a fire where she lost all her belongings) displaced Kina from her home, we are happy to hear that she is in a loving relationship and is currently engaged to her fiancé Jeremy.
She has been seeing Doctor Budev, and they are doing many tests on her to find out why her health has been declining.
As many of you in the CF community will understand (and as we see repeatedly in the film) there can be long painful stretches in the hospital. To pass the time, Kina has been writing. Here are some excerpts from a recent post:
Chronic Rejection. It’s reared its head. Really bad this time. So many words left unsaid. So many people I love and cherish are going to be hurt by this. My health is going to decline. It’s basically like having my old lungs back…. I’m not depressed. Just hurting. I had 6 good years of transplant. I have changed lives. Inspired. Aided. Created. I’ve been through hell, and yet I still smile. Those who help me. I don’t have enough words to tell you how much it means to me. I sit here listening to other patients, they gasp, cough, choke, and cry out. I’m back in the ol’ ball and chain of fighting to breathe. I will pray for everyone. Not for myself. I don’t need anything but love.
More updates to come. Sending lots of love to Kina and all the CFers out there in hospital beds. (more…)
“Before You Complain” – by Savilla Kress
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Thank you to Savilla Kress (also a transplant recipient) for allowing us to repost this blog from her blog SavillaCreations! (Originally posted on March 27, 2013)
Before you complain about mundane things like weather and traffic, consider taking a breath. Breathe in deep and feel the air go into your lungs. Imagine the oxygen nourishing your cells. Take a deep breath. This is a luxury which many people don’t have. Yesterday Meg Moore passed away from Cystic Fibrosis. She was 25 years old. Meg left behind a young son who probably will never remember how it felt to be held by his mother. (more…)
Gearing up for Organ Donation Month!
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Please Share our video made of clips from the DVD extras, in support of Organ Donation for the Month of April. (National Donate Life Month in the US!)
Spring is finally upon us – and we are gearing up for Organ Donation Month activities, all during April! All our #4Eva items (DVDs, T’s Art Cards) are 25% off our online store with the promo code: organdonor#4Eva
I’m quite excited to be working on the #4Eva Campaign this year. One personal reason – A few weeks ago, a friend of mine passed away suddenly, but had been an advocate for organ donation, which his family made a point to recognize in the midst of the tragedy. My friend who passed was an incredibly generous human being – one of those people in your life that lacks any malice in their spirit, but instead spreads joy and happiness to those around him. I was really moved when I heard that he made it a point to spread the word about organ donation during his short life, as it revealed that his generosity extends beyond the end of his life. Although I never personally met Eva, her message of love and giving resonates so much with my relationship with my friend, whose life emanated love, joy, and generosity. It’s a message that I think is at the heart of the #4Eva Campaign – and a message worth spreading!
My hopes for Organ Donation Month are that we can inspire people around us to want to be involved with the campaign, and build momentum for a movement for organ donation. (more…)
In Memory of Eva & Meg, a Message from Director Nimisha Mukerji
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Dear Eva,
So here we are. Three years ago you left us but I can honestly say that not a day goes by without you. That’s the power of all that energy you put into the world: small drops in an ocean create a ripple effect. We find you in the success of the “Live Life, Pass It On” campaign which, thanks to your artwork, continues to create awareness about the need for organ donation. People see your photo on their hydro bills, driver’s license forms, public transit and on print ads throughout the city. They are reminded that they too can make a positive difference in someone else’s life by becoming an organ donor.
Through social media, we hear stories about your impact on the CF community. The movement you started online is still growing, and new members are always finding their way to us on facebook and twitter. And where you left off with your blog, others took over. Your voice is now echoed through thousands of voices, communicating with us through a global online network. They share their CF experiences, their fundraising efforts and the many impacts (small and big) that you made on their lives. Recently I was at BC Children’s Hospital and I saw a mother and her two children looking at the 65 roses painting you inspired. Those beautiful, colorful images bring joy and comfort to those who need it most.
Oprah “Effect” a game-changer for 65_RedRoses Filmmakers!
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It’s seems like yesterday since our launch on OWN back in May… And it was actually only yesterday that the Vancouver Sun featured 65_ RedRoses as a story again!
Congratulations Nimisha and Philip (featured left with Oprah) for headlining yesterday’s article by Zoe McKnight on the “Oprah Effect”.
A warm Winfrey endorsement has opened doors for local entrepreneurs
“Filmmaker Nimisha Mukerji is one of the lucky few who have not only had their work endorsed by Oprah Winfrey, but have been in her presence. She met the former talk show host, publisher and all-around lifestyle mogul – who will be appearing in Vancouver Jan. 24, 2013 at Rogers Arena – at a party during the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, where Mukerji and co-producer Philip Lyall were shopping around their documentary 65_RedRoses, about a young Vancouver woman battling cystic fibrosis. The film had been selected as one of the first five to premiere on Documentary Club on the Oprah Winfrey Network, where it aired this May.”
Read the rest at Vancouver Sun’s website…
For those of you in Vancouver, Canada who want to buy the film or any of our designed-by-eva #4Eva heart tee shirts, art cards and pendants, we are having a PopUpShop this Sunday in Chinatown, Sunday December 2, noon -6 pm, 525 Carrall Street in Chinatown. Or order online and use promo code #4EvaHeart for 20% off! (more…)
Eva inspired Nimisha Mukerji to make her new film Blood Relative.
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Blood Relative premieres tonight at the Vancouver International Film Festival. Get your tickets now! Pictured here is Blood Relative Director Nimisha Mukerji.
In a great article in the Globe and Mail Nimisha talks about how Eva talked her into the film, and how after Eva passed away, working on this new project helped her heal. Excerpted from the Globe & Mail article:
“I was very resistant to this story,” Ms. Mukerji said recently, over a chai latte in Vancouver. “My friend mentioned it and I said no: This is everything I said I didn’t want to do. It’s about illness, potentially fatal illness, it’s about kids, it’s a Third World country, I’m so out of my element, I’ve never lived in India before.”
Facebook announces organ donation feature on timeline NOW IN CANADA
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In May when we launched 65_RedRoses on OWN in the US, Facebook had just launched their organ donation timeline feature. We were thrilled, but sad that it wasn’t in effect for Canada. Now it is!!!
Find out how from this link.
- Click Life Event at the top of your timeline
- Select Health & Wellness
- Select Organ Donor
- Select your audience and click Save
If you are not officially registered as an organ donor, sign up with the appropriate registry.
Fans of Eva, we are also encouraging you to mention if our story and campaign inspired you. Please add #4Eva and a link back to this site or to our Facebook page in your ‘story’ section, and make it public! (more…)
