Donate Life ceremony at Auburn courthouse 'emotional, educational and empowering'

The community gathered Friday for a lighting ceremony in honor of National Donate Life Blue and Green Day at the Placer County historic courthouse in Auburn. Valen Keefer, an Auburn resident and patient advocacy consultant for the transplant diagnostics business at Thermo Fisher Scientific, said more than 75 individuals attended and described the event as "emotional, educational and empowering." Those in attendance included Placer County Supervisors, representatives from Placer County Health and Human Services, local firefighters and transplant families. "I'm so grateful for Placer County for their incredible support of organ donation by lighting up the courthouse blue and green all of April, allowing me to gather the local and transplant community together to celebrate the gift of life and doing a proclamation declaring April as Donate Life Month in Placer County," Keefer said in an email to the Auburn Journal. Keefer said the impacts of organ donation were shared by Deanna Santana's story about her son's contribution to organ donation and Kristen Moore's story as a transplant recipient. Keefer said she is "grateful for each and every one of the amazing individuals who helped to make it an unforgettable evening" and hopes to make the event an annual tradition. The courthouse was lit blue and green in honor of Donate Life Month on April 1 and will remain on for the rest of the month.