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Correspondence Guidelines

 

Recent studies show that writing to an organ donor family or organ recipient proves to be therapeutic for most families. Southern Eye Bank encourages and supports correspondence. As recipients are healing from your corneal transplant, the donor’s family is healing from their loss. We can help each other heal!

This decision to write is a very personal one. There is no obligation to write. This letter is merely an invitation to do so if you desire. If you choose to correspond with your donor’s family, please understand that guidelines must be followed.

Here are the guidelines:

▸ Writing to a Donor Family
The recipient must remain anonymous. Please do not use last-names. You may state your age, sex, occupation and the city/state you reside in.
If you should not know what to say in your letters, feel free to call upon us and we will help you. Writing about hobbies, the transplant process and other pieces of information is a good way to start. Most recipients write about how their transplant has changed their life, whether it was by going back to work, school or performing a favorite activity.
Please understand that the process of correspondence does not happen overnight. Take your time. You can write a few short sentences if you choose or a lengthy letter if you feel that is more appropriate. The decision is yours.
If you should want to meet the donor family, please express this in your letter.  We do our best to connect recipients with donor families, but please understand the wishes of all involved are respected.
To write to your donor family, fill out this form online or mail your correspondence to:
Southern Eye Bank
Attn: Joy Fragola
2701 Kingman Street, Ste 200
Metairie, LA 70006
All correspondence received is regarded as highly confidential and will only be utilized by Southern Eye Bank personnel.
▸ Writing to a Recipient
The donor must remain anonymous. Please do not use last-names. As a donor family member, you may state your age, sex, occupation and the city/state you reside in.
If you should not know what to say in your letters, feel free to call upon us and we will help you. Writing about the hobbies and interests of the donor, memories of the kind of person they were, your relationship to the donor, and what they meant to your family is a good way to start.
Please understand that the process of correspondence does not happen overnight. Take your time. You can write a few short sentences if you choose or a lengthy letter if you feel that is more appropriate. The decision is yours.
If you should want to meet the recipient, please express this in your letter.  We do our best to connect recipients with donor families, but please understand the wishes of all involved are respected.
In order for us to locate the recipient(s), please write the donor name and date of death on a separate sheet of paper.
To write to a recipient, fill out this form online or mail your correspondence to:
Southern Eye Bank
Attn: Joy Fragola
2701 Kingman Street, Ste 200
Metairie, LA 70006
All correspondence received is regarded highly confidential and will only be utilized by Southern Eye Bank personnel.

 

Southern Eye Bank also honors the organ donor and their families with our Legacy Quilt.

Southern Eye Bank, a non-profit organization, was founded in 1947. Our mission is to preserve and restore eyesight by recovering, evaluating and distributing ocular tissue to those in need. Because of the generosity of eye donors from southern Louisiana, over 1000 people from Louisiana received a sight-restoring corneal transplant and operations last year.

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