Love Joy Dadulo Ricahrds, HBCU Organ and Tissue Donation Advocacy Scholarship Winner
Staggering disparities in health outcomes by racial/ethnic group remain a huge problem in the United States. People of color experience higher rates of chronic disease and premature death. Black patients represent a disproportionately large percent of the organ transplant waiting list, resulting in a troubling gap between Black patients in need of an organ donation, and Black organ donors. There is no doubt that this health inequity is yet another product of historic and current systemic racism in the United States.
This summer, Richie’s Spirit Foundation partnered with Student Organ Donation Advocates (SODA) to help sponsor their HBCU Organ and Tissue Donation Advocacy Scholarship, alongside Hearts for Emma, Hearts for Russ, the Laura Miller Memorial Fund, and the YNOTT? Foundation. The award aims to celebrate and support students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities who are passionate about organ donation and hope to be advocates within and for their communities.
Love Joy Dadulo Richards, an Advocacy Scholarship winner, is a Licensed Practical Nurse and a student at the University of the Virgin Islands pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. As a dialysis nurse, Love Joy has seen the incredible impact of organ donation on the lives of her patients and their families.
Accessing a life-changing organ transplant is difficult for all patients, but Love Joy shares in her essay how particularly inaccessible organ and tissue donations have been for her patients. “Living on a small island of St Thomas, USVI, has been a challenge for my patients who are wanting a second chance of living a normal life,” She writes. “We do not have any organ or tissue donating establishments. We rely on our closest neighboring island, Puerto Rico for even tissue donation such as blood and/or plasma.”
SODA inspires and supports student-led organ donation education and registration efforts through high school and college chapters. Learn more about SODA here.
Love Joy goes on to share, “I remember when the two category 5 hurricanes, Irma and Maria, that devastated our islands, our dialysis patients were transported to the US mainland. Although devastating, two of our patients received kidney transplants in a few months they were located. Now they are living normal lives and contributing to society. They come and visit our facility from time to time.”
Love Joy’s experience has motivated her to become a dedicated advocate. “One main way of advocating for organ and tissue donation is to start the conversation,” she explains. “I am an organ donor, because I have seen how it changes a person’s life and to their loved ones. I can exemplify individuals who have been kidney recipients, and can ask them to do testimonials on how it has changed their lives.”
Love Joy has won the SODA HBCU Organ and Tissue Advocacy Scholarship alongside five other passionate students: Alexandra Caldwell (North Carolina A&T State University), Kyla Duke (Howard University), Ethan Harvey (Bluefield State College), Jerome Whitaker (Albany State University), and Whitney Willis (North Carolina A&T State University). Richie’s Spirit Foundation is proud to celebrate these students, and looks forward to seeing where their dedication and leadership will take them.