Empowered Communications

LSU Student, Alexis Smith

The Gifted Life Podcast is excited to share a story about a life saved.

Read a special guest blog from LSU Manship School of Communications student, Alexis Smith.

Register to be an organ, eye and tissue donor at registerme.org

Empowered Communications Group, a student public relations agency at Louisiana State University, has been working with Louisiana Organ Procurement Agency during the spring of 2020 in an effort to increase organ and tissue donation awareness and donor registry.

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The public relations efforts are part of a service learning class at LSU taught by award-winning professor, Dr. Jinx Broussard. The extensive campaign plans usually include on and off campus events, fundraising efforts, table talks and giveback nights, but this semester looked different for the graduating seniors and organizations involved.

The class is usually divided into two stages: the research & planning stage and then implementation stage. After the students at LSU had researched and planned a campaign for LOPA and were ready to begin implementing, COVID-19 was announced as a world pandemic. Following the announcement, stay-at-home and social distancing orders were enforced across Louisiana. With the guidance of Dr. Broussard, Empowered Communications quickly began to explore creative ways to spread awareness and emphasize the need for donors in an online campaign.

In the midst of changing the way LOPA approaches families and prospective recipients due COVID-19, the organization’s employees worked diligently alongside the students to make sure that the online campaign came to fruition.

CEO, Kelly Ranum, met with Alexis Smith, Account Executive, via video-chat to express her gratitude and excitement about the online campaign. “The way LOPA operates looks a lot different during this time. We are used to being able to have conversations with families face-to-face and hold in-person events to honor those people. This is something we have not had to deal with yet, but we are dedicated to Making Life Happen and spreading hope. I am excited to see what you all come up with to help us in our mission,” says Ranum.

After quickly creating an online campaign, titled “Spreading Hope, Not Germs” the students began interviewing individuals affected by organ or tissue donation, writing feature stories, creating graphics and coming up with new ways to advocate for the organization’s cause. Both parties were still dedicated to saving lives and making an impact in the community.

“Empowered Communications, a student team in my class, did not skip a beat in implementing their PR campaign for LOPA. The students developed creative ways to engage LOPA’s various publics. They interviewed organ recipients, and wrote blogs, articles and social media posts. They successfully reached out to the media, coordinated a special event by engaging Manship School faculty, staff and students on Blue and Green Day and they continued to call attention in a myriad of ways to a pressing need during National Donate Life Month. I cannot stress how inspired I am by these tenacious students who despite having their lives upended, enthusiastically did their work,” expresses Broussard.

Working together, separated by thousands of miles and state lines, the members of Empowered found ways to spread hope by telling inspiring stories of organ donors and recipients that involved the organization’s key publics through a weekly blog titled #TrueStoryTuesday. The student team also helped LOPA honor and celebrate the lives saved on National Blue and Green Day by creating a graphic that was shared by a variety of LSU students and faculty on social media. With the help of Lori Steele, a Community Educator for LOPA, the students were able to achieve many of the original goals of the campaign.

“We are so grateful for partners like Empowered Communications. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, these students understood LOPA’s core purpose. By combining their talents and social media skills, together they worked to increase donation awareness and to increase Louisiana’s donor registry. They were successful in helping us Make Life Happen,” exclaims Steele.

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The great thing about the class, much like public relations itself, is it is mutually beneficial to both parties. Students gain real-world experience to use in their job search and resume, and non-profit organization benefit from the exposure and efforts of the campaign.

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Group photo with LOPA representatives and LOPA volunteer (pre Covid 19)

“Working in partnership with LOPA this semester has given me such valuable real-world experience. I am grateful to have not only been able to work for such an amazing organization, but also with such professional and hands-on leaders at LOPA. I can now confidently step into a full time position with real public relations experience,” says Marlee Bridges, Account Executive of Empowered Communications.

We are so grateful for all of the experiences and hurdles we faced during this campaign, it allowed us to face a crisis head-on and still accomplish our goals. We loved leaving our mark on the community. We send a special thanks to Lori Steele, and the amazing LOPA employees who guided us during the semester.

Love, Empowered Communications

Special thanks to: Rebecca (creative DIR), Marlee (acct exec), Remy (strategic/creative), Sarah (Social media/promotions), Madeline (writing), Mikha (research), Caroline (Strategic/Creative), Alexis  (Acct Exec)

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Don’t forget to listen and subscribe to The Gifted Life Podcast on your favorite podcatcher.

Written by Alexis Smith - LSU Student - Manship School of Mass Communications

Eric's Story

LSU Student, Alexis Smith

The Gifted Life Podcast is excited to share a story about a life saved.

Read a special guest blog from LSU Manship School of Communications student, Alexis Smith.

Register to be an organ, eye and tissue donor at registerme.org

Eric Bolivar, age 47, has led a colorful, passion-driven life as a beloved New Orleans drummer. Bolivar has performed alongside numerous high-profile musicians such as Lenny Kravitz, Anders Osborne, Bonerama, Ellis Marsalis, Karl Denson and many more.

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Eric Bolivar

The life he treasured and became accustomed to came to a standstill on Jan. 15, 2015, when Bolivar discovered he was combatting hereditary Polycystic Kidney Disease. The diagnosis propelled him into stage five kidney failure, and requires dialysis as he waits for a possible kidney transplant.

“I had all kinds of strange problems going on in my body up until my diagnosis. They would come and go, but I would always attest them to the crazy schedule of a musician. I was flying around the world for shows and my sleep schedule was never the same. I began experiencing extreme fatigue; I would sleep nine to 11 hours, get up to eat and have to go right back to bed for at least another five hours. I experienced terrible cramping. If I engaged any muscle it would seize up. I was having trouble keeping my food down and other weird things. Anyway, the symptoms began to overlap and I knew I had to get checked,” recalls Bolivar.

The five-year mark since his diagnosis has recently passed, and Bolivar is still waiting to receive his second chance at life. He tries to live his life as normally as possible, and gives thanks every day for the technology that allows him to stay alive while he waits for a transplant. Eric spends roughly 18 hours a week in dialysis. There have been close calls and matches of living donors, but things have fallen through for a variety of reasons, which can understandably be trying.

“Even though it takes up about 18 hours a week, my life seems to revolve around dialysis. Don’t get me wrong, I thank the Lord that dialysis treatment is a viable option while I wait for a kidney, but I can’t help but want my time back. I have tried to keep a positive attitude during this process and it really does help. It becomes so much harder on the days when I allow myself to get even a little bit down. I just keep telling myself that things will work out,” he professes.

Despite his many trials however, Bolivar remains patient, listens to the doctors and medical staff, and puts his trust in the fact that things will work out the way they are meant to. Eric is also a father to a beautiful daughter, Lola. He has lived with the disease for most of her life; fatherhood, his loved ones and family motivate him to stay positive and continue the fight.

“I really hope my daddy can get a new kidney soon,” says Bolivar’s daughter, Lola. (Tiny Lola pictured below with Eric and Eric’s sister.)

Since the diagnosis in 2015, Bolivar has been unable to travel around the world and perform as a full-time musician. This has inspired the New Orleans community including fellow musicians, loved ones and complete strangers to band together in support of Bolivar. As soon as the news of Bolivar’s diagnosis was announced, several fundraising concerts and benefits were held, as well as a GoFundMe campaign.

LOPA was fortunate enough to hear the story from Bolivar himself and call attention to the need of organ donation awareness and the importance of registry. The average wait for a kidney is five to seven years, and the kidney is the most needed organ in Louisiana. Bolivar’s story is a real testimony to LOPA’s mission of Making Life Happen.

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To learn more about the importance of organ donation, listen to The Gifted Life Podcast. On episode 109, LOPA Community Educators, Sheron Raymond and Cheryl McGee-Hills discuss their passion for spreading awareness in an episode titled Donation Education.

Written by Alexis Smith - LSU Student - Manship School of Mass Communications

Anthony's Story

LSU Student, Marlee Bridges

The Gifted Life Podcast is excited to share a story about a life saved.

Read a special guest blog from LSU Manship School of Communications student, Marlee Bridges.

Register to be an organ, eye and tissue donor at registerme.org

Anthony Chiasson, a Baton Rouge area high school sophomore, was only three-months-old when he was given a second chance at life via a liver transplant.

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Anthony was born with biliary atresia, a rare liver disease that occurs in infants and causes the liver to slowly shut down. For the first two months of Anthony’s life, doctors were unsure of the steps needed to be taken to treat his condition. 

Anthony’s parents were walking through a fog of confusion during that time. Finally, they received some answers. However, it required them to journey from Baton Rouge to Omaha, Nebraska. While in Nebraska, Anthony saw a specialist and thankfully, qualified to receive a transplant from a living donor. Yet, the decision of who would donate part of their liver to Anthony was still up in the air. 

Heroically, Anthony’s father became his living donor, giving Anthony the left lobe of his liver, and saving his life.

Although Anthony was too young to remember his transplant, he knows now how difficult that time was for his parents. “I think my parents and family thought we were pretty much on our own,” says Anthony. 

His mother began reaching out to families that were going through similar situations. Through this, she found LOPA and was able to receive the support and community she was desiring. To this day, his parents connect with other parents who walk difficult roads just as they did, and so does Anthony.

“It’s a bit of a comfort to know there are people out there just like me,” says Anthony. 

Through learning about his own life and hearing stories from his family about his transplant, Anthony has decided he wants to become a doctor.  “As a way of giving back, I plan on becoming a doctor of some sort in the future,” says Anthony. Anthony wants to thank all of the medical professionals, not only for Making Life Happen, but also for selflessly serving during this unprecedented time in our world. One day Anthony hopes to be serving alongside them, too. 

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Hear more about pediatric transplants on episodes 101 and 102 of The Gifted Life Podcast, a two-part series on Briggs Elliser, who just like Anthony, was diagnosed with biliary atresia and received a liver transplant. 

Written by Marlee Bridges - LSU Student - Manship School of Mass Communications