It seems that this page is now been repaired and I can once again access the menus and change things around. I may be
bring this back as out home page as it was originally.
Check out the Newsletter
Just use the menu bar on the left and click on Newsletter "Boldstrokes"
Paddlers attempt Social Networking
The Paddlers now have an active Facebook page and would love to have you drop by. Here is a link to our page.
I have just added some photos from the Reel paddling film festival. Check the album and have a look. Cheers
New medical cards and Organ / Tissue donation cards
I was very pleased to receive my new NWT Medical card to day and even more surprised to find my
Organ and Tissue donation card inside the envelope. Please be sure to read the entire contents of the envelope when you receive
your new card. When this was first tried many folks missed the card and they were wasted.
The Paddlers for Parts have been passing out donation cards as well for almost 8 years now and
the cards are available at various locations around town, just pick one up and take her home.
Organ donor cards are one method of making folks aware of your wishes to donate and alert first
responders to the fact. Donation requires final conscent from your surviving family members or next of kin. It is very important
that you discuss your wishes with your family an be sure they understand your wish to donate. Once this has taken place, please
sign the cards and carry them with you at all times.
Due to the family final right of refusal in Canada up to 53 % of donated organs are lost due to
the family saying no at time of death. This is why it is so important that your family understand how much this means to you.
The Organ and Tissue doantion card is not as many think a legally binding document but rather a
quick heads up to responders and medical personal that you have expressed a desire to donate and they will contact the family
and request the donation and premission to harvest. Your surviving family has the right to refuse and it is important that
you know this. Of course we live in hope that they will honour your last wishes. One donor makes it is possible to assist
as many as eighty people, this is of course a case by case thing and depends on many things. Many folks think that they
will be to old to donate and this is not the case, the oldest donor on record was 87 at time of donation and the kidneys were
in good shape and are now giving someone their second life.
I received the gift of life from a cadaveric donor in April, 1997 and have since crossed Canada
north to south by bicycle and kayak raising funds and awareness for the Kidney Foundation of Northern Alberta and the Territories.
At the moment in Canada there are over 4,000 people awaiting organs and unfortunately some will
die before they are available. The average waiting time is two or more years and the list grow longer every day. Consider
this option very careful as "Life is the finest gift you have to offer and it is yours to freely give to one or many."
The Paddlers host a number of events every year where we give donor cards away and we consider
each event a total success if one person takes a donor card home, even a better if they take it home and sign it. We
have raised and spend a large sum of funds in the north promoting this and support the Paddlers Bursary Fund which we fund
throught the Edmonton office of the Kidney Foundation. We will continue to do this as long as we are able.
Transplants work and wether you know it or not, you probably know someone that is alive because
of one.
My birthday for my second chance at life would be April 27th; 1997 which makes me twelve in a sense.
I am forever gratefully to the family that made this and all that is connected with it possible. Their cost was great and
I try hard to make this gift possible for others. I am forever grateful as well to my plumber Dr. Gary Todd for the
excellent job he did and the really cool scar. The staff at the renal unit at the U of A and the staff in and doctors in Yellowknife.
The people of Yellowknife have stepped up to the plate at every fund rasier and their continued support never ceases to amaze
me.
We of couse look forward at seeing many of them at the New Years Eve Free swim, compliments of
the Paddlers for Parts Association #1455. Live long, get wet, have fun and prosper.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Years. Only five months till open water and it will fly by. See you
on the water. Cheers, Greg
Paddlers Mission Statement
The Paddlers are a group of concerned
folks intent on raising the issue of Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness across Canada and the globe. We act as a fund raising
group donating our oganizational income to the cause. Our secondary purpose is the promotion of the paddling sports of canoeing
and kayaking as an active and healthy life style. It is our belief that the large community of Paddlers, Hikers and Cyclists
can make a huge difference in the lives of those that live with Kidney Disease.
Please visit the link above and if your a paddler join the new site www.playak.net and start your
own page and group. This is a great way to meet like minded folks from around the globe.
Our newest member I met through this site.
The latest edition of the Paddlers Banner. This will be revised as new groups are added..
Donor Cards
The Paddlers have just received the latest version of their Organ/Tissue Donation card
and are presently distributing them now. These cards are for interm use while we lobby for an Organ Donor Registry. We
have a petetion circulating at the moment for this and should you agree and see one at the locations around town please sign
it. Thanks Greg
Should you wish to use these cards you should do the following.
Discuss your wishes with your family
Sign the card
Carry the signed card with you at all times
This is probably the most generous thing that you will ever do, so please consider this carefully
and make your choice.
There are a few things that you should be aware of when it comes to Donor cards.
The cards themselves are donated to the Kidney Foundation by Companies and Associations that wish to contribute to the program.
Cards in Yellowknife have been printed for the last few years by the Dailysis Unit at Stanton Hospital, a program made possible
by the efforts of Patty Woods, RN. Patty was a paddler but has moved to another province and we wish her well. We are graced
with her presence every now and then.
Should you or your organization wish to sponsor a printing please contact me through
the website and I will set that up Greg.
The Paddlers maintain locations around Yellowknife where you can just walk
in and pick up a card, we do our best to see that these locations are always stocked. I have just placed over a thousand
cards under wind shield wipers around town and hope that I got you and that you have decided to use the card for its intended
purpose. We are always looking for new locations for coin boxes and cards so if your interested let us know. We have turned
in 2,427.75 dollars since Halloween 2006 through the coin boxes (about 19
months worth of collecting and rolling coins.) . We are averaging over 100.00 dollars per month from the coin boxes, not bad
for a small town.
During the last four years our efforts combined with the government mail out have
resulted in roughly 50,000 donor cards being distributed across the Territories. There is really no way for us to be sure
who received theirs so we will continue to keep the locations stocked and send them to the out laying communities as we can.
Once the cards have been made available we hope that you use them, but that is up to you and your family. There are thousands
waiting for Organs and many will die this year so every signed card is a possible which is all anyone can ask. A list of locations
you will find just a little further down the page so keep scrolling. I will see about getting this published locally in the
near future, so check the local paper. Consider donation and if you and your family agree, Please sign the card
CARD LOCATIONS In Yellowknife
Sutherland Drugs perscription counter
Harleys Shirt shack
Choice Video
Weaver and Devores counter
Eldonns Jewelery
Overlander Sports.
Yellowknife Public Library
Yellowknife Public Health Building 1st. floor
The Why behind our group
Here are some facts that you, like most folks probably are unaware of,but they are why we do what we
do.
One persons organs and tissues can help up to 80 people
As of December 2005, 4,025 people await transplant (68% wait for kidneys)
In Northern Alberta and the Territories alone 128 people are on the kidney transplant waiting list
and 339 are undergoing test to get on the list
There are 896 others that are on Dialysis, but who could end up on the transplant list should their
conditions worsen.
Roughly 150 will die while awaiting transplant because suitable organs could not be found
Canadas donation rate is ranked in the bottom half of countries in the western world where transplants
are preformed. Only 14 out of every million people in Canada donate their organs.
A signed card is not enough as your family will be asked to consent to your donation. They must be
aware of your wishes to donate.
Wallet cards are available through the Foundation or in Yellowknife through the Paddlers for Parts
Association (867)444-3007 and ask for Greg
These facts are provided by the Kidney Foundation and you may contact them for more details. They (1-800-461-9063)
would love to hear from you.
I realized when that our logo would have to encompass a few different
things and express the groups we work with as well, not an easy task. However the Paddler's Ribbon is what I came up
with and we feel it works well. The Green Ribbon is the Kidney Foundations symbol of Life and we have arranged it into a kayak
paddle, representing our chosen method of travelling in support of the Foundation. The twin blades serve two purposes representing
both the Organ Donor and the Recipient as well as the sports of Canoeing and Kayaking our favourite fund raising tools. The
paddle shaft represents the permanent connection between the Paddlers and the Kidney Foundation, the donor and the recipient
and canoeing and kayaking our favourite sports. With the addition of other chapters as we grow we like to think that the Paddle
shaft also represents the permenant connection between the chapters. When you think of this symbol you think of us and
we appreciate your thoughts. Greg
Privacy Policy
The Paddlers for Parts Association has a strict policy regarding the personal information of
our members. All contact informaton given to us remains strictly with us and will be used for no other purpose than contcting
the members themselves. We are opposed to the practice of spamming and will not sell or pass on your personal information
or add it to list of any form. Should an exsisting member wish to drop their status all records are destroyed upon the completion
of their request.
Something to think about
Probably not the first thing on your might but perhaps you should consider this little fact. In Canada
at the moment an estimated 2.1 million Canadians have chronic Kidney Disease and do not know it. There are no tell-tale
symptoms with Kidney disease and many discover this fact after it can't be helped. Please sign your Donor Card, carry
it with you and "Recycle Yourself" as thousands wait for the help.
Another sad but ture fact is that Canada loses 53% of it's donated organs to Family refusal after
death. This is perfectly legal but we feel very unfortunate and would like to see the law changed on this. The Paddlers
would prefer to see non consentually donation automatically upon death and option now under consideration in Ontario. All
those apposed could carry a Do Not Harvest card. This approach is having great success in Europe.
The "Reel Paddling Film Festival," April 10th/2010
The Festival was over 90 % sold out and enjoyed by all.
City Annual spring Clean up Sunday May 16th; we have area 22
Water Safety Week Free swim
Olde Stope Hill (Pilots Monumemt) Clean-up
Trans Canada trail pavilion Clean-up
Annual Sociable Affair, July 22nd until 25th.
Volunteer welding labour for the new Montasouri and NJ school playgrounds 3 days worth.
Site Builder
The Paddlers President
and one lucky Fellow
Pictured to our left is Greg Loftus, President of the Paddlers and the mastermind
behind the concept. Greg survived a double Kidney Transplant in 1997 and a stroke in the spring of 2004. This is the Paddler's
way of saying "Thanks" for a second chance.
We are a small group based in Yellowknife, NWT and Ontario at the present
time, but hope to include many members from across Canada and the World in time. We have some support from friends in Europe
and slowly we grow. Please contact us with your questions as we would be pleased to assist in any way that we can. We look
forward to responding and perhaps having you join the ranks. Kidney disease is a very sneaky fellow and you never know when
or who it will strike next.
