The decision to write to organ transplant recipients is a very personal one and is completely up to you. Sometimes, donor families choose to write organ transplant recipients and their families to share information about themselves and their loved one. For some donor families, this sharing with the recipient helps them in their grieving process. While most of our correspondence is between organ transplant recipients and their donor families, tissue recipients can and do write to their donor families as well.  It can be possible to reciprocate that communication.  The Life Anew Program Coordinator can help answer those questions for you.

Carolina Donor Services facilitates written correspondence between the donor family and organ and/or tissue transplant recipients. All correspondence is completely anonymous and identities are kept confidential.

You may write one letter, and we will ensure that a copy is forwarded to each recipient.  You may also write to specific recipients.  Please indicate the specific recipient by either addressing the letter as: "Dear Heart Recipient" or ir indicate which organ/tissue on the outside of the letter.

Please be patient as the exchange of correspondence may take several days to several weeks. Once you have sent your correspondence to Carolina Donor Services, we forward your letters on to the local recipient's transplant hospital or to another organ procurement organization (OPO) if the recipient is located out-of-state.

If you would like to write to the recipients, you may send a card, letters, and even a photo. The following guidelines may assist you in deciding what type of information to include.

Provide general information such as:

• Your loved one's first name only.
• His or her job or occupation.
• His or her hobbies or interests.
• Your family situation such as marital status, children, or grandchildren.

Since the religion of the transplant recipient's family is unknown, please consider this if you are including religious comments.

Closing your card or letter:

• Sign your first name only.
• Do not reveal your address, city or phone number.
• Do not reveal the name of the hospital where your loved one died.
  

Mailing your card or letter:

• Place it in an unsealed, unaddressed envelope.
• You do not need to include a stamp on the unsealed envelope.  We will cover all mailing costs to the recipients.
• Place above in a mailing envelope and on a separate piece of paper include your full name, address, phone number, your loved one's full name and the date of donation.

Mail to:
Life Anew Program Coordinator
Carolina Donor Services
3621 Lyckan Parkway
Durham, North Carolina 27707

lifeanew@carolinadonorservices.org

At some point you may want to communicate directly with the recipient(s) of your loved one's gifts.  You do have this option.  We encourage you to correspond with the recipient through Carolina Donor Services at least once, if not more, prior to starting this process. If you want to communicate directly, we will send you a letter outlining some of the positives and possible negatives about communicating directly with the recipient(s).  Also, we will include a consent form that must be signed by both you and a witness.  Once this consent form is returned to our office, we will forward a similar letter and consent form to the recipient(s).  When at least one recipient has returned his/her consent form, we will release your information to the recipient and their information to you.  Remember, everyone has a choice in this matter.  If you have questions or concerns, feel free to call the Life Anew Program Coordinator at (800) 200-2672.