The Wave Set, formerly a 501 c3 non-profit and now a partner of the NJ Sharing Network, in April donated $10,000 to the new Joseph S. Roth Simulation Center located at NJ Sharing Network’s headquarters in New Providence.
Jared Wohl of Livingston is the co-founder and advisor of The Wave (We Are Vital to Each other) Set, which was begun in late 2013, right before his 65% partial liver donation to his brother Cameron in February 2014.
Wohl said, “Leading up to that point, as we were going through the process, we recognized that we really had limited experience with organ transplantation, and we felt like that was likely the case for many families being struck with that sort of situation.”
Also, when doing more research on organ donation in general, Wohl and his family learned at the time that 18 people a day were dying while waiting for a deceased person’s organ for a transplant, and that many people were being added to the waiting list every day.
“That list was growing exponentially,” Wohl said, “but we learned that there were options for living donations, like in our case. The fact that I donated a portion of my liver to my brother, we just realized that there was this immense lack of awareness on the topic.”
In December 2013, The Wave Set launched a crowd-funded campaign to raise money for the production of a documentary describing the family’s journey through the transplant experience. The documentary, titled 65 Percent, was featured during a film festival circuit, which side-by-side with speaking engagements, further created an awareness and educated people on the importance of organ donation.
Many years later, the non-profit joined forces with New Jersey Sharing Network, which is New Jersey’s largest organ procurement organization. The $10,000 donation by The Wave Set was in celebration of the 10-year anniversary of Cameron’s transplant, which also coincided with National Donate Life Month in April – as well as Jared and Cameron’s birthday (they were born on the same April day three years apart). A National Donte Life Month Flag Raising and Simulation Center Ribbon Cutting was held on April 16 for the staff and funding partners.
The Wohl families present The Wave Set’s donation to the New Jersey Sharing Network’s new Joseph S. Roth Simulation Center (courtesy of the Wohl Family)
Wohl, a musician with a few albums to his credit and whose background is in educational technology and sales, embraced the idea of being able to educate patients and families on what the [transplant] process, courtesy of the Simulation Center, could look like. He said of the donation, “It was a great feeling all around. When we learned about the opportunity, my brother and I immediately said that is what we wanted to support with the funds.”
For more information, visit www.sharingnetworkfoundation.org/thewave-set
Source: https://issuu.com/newviewmg/docs/livingston_june_2024
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