Brenda Cortez: Helping Others With Love
Brenda Cortez uses the power of sharing stories in order to help children understand the complexities of organ donation. Brenda Cortez is a published author and a live organ donor who has created an outlet to guide children through the different perspectives and implications of what it means to be an organ donor. One of her books is titled “Howl the Owl”, Howl meaning “Help Others With Love”. Brenda states that this motto was meant to “promote kindness and helping others” which is shown throughout her work and her own life.
Brenda donated her kidney sixteen years ago to a mother who she met at her child's school. She tells the story quite simply, by stating that she asked for the requirements and at the end of November 2004, she was a match and donated her left kidney. However, this donation has motivated Brenda into becoming an author and advocating for others in need, inside and outside of the realm of organ donation.
Her first book focused on her daughter’s perspective of organ donation. Being a mother, Brenda had to learn how to explain what organ donation is, and what it means to have a parent donor. Therefore, this book allows children to comprehend what it means to donate an organ and how their parents have helped others in need. Brenda then saw a need for a child receiving an organ donation to feel represented and understand what it means for them to receive a donation. This led to Brenda’s second book: Howl getting a Second Heart. The Howl the Owl books encapsulate a variety of organ donation topics including what it means to be kind, what is organ donation, and “simply about helping others”.
Brenda Cortez was also inspired to create a book that encapsulated the variety of organ donations and how everyone’s story is different. She wanted to create a book that told the story of donors and recipients of all different types of organ donations and how it has impacted their lives, hence the title, “Because of Organ Donation”. This book is not a children's book, and is targeted towards showcasing incredible individuals who have all had different experiences with donation. The concept of this book includes every chapter being a different story in order to allow for the entirety of organ donation. Every chapter includes an extremely personal story of a different recipient and was told as if the reader was experiencing it.
Being a live organ donor herself, Brenda demonstrates her passion for organ donation advocacy throughout every book she has written. Moreover, she participates in events around her community and shares stories on her social media that are not limited to organ donation. Her ability to share stories has allowed her to create a platform to help and comfort others through the different experiences of organ donation.
These books can be a great resource and foundation for learning about organ donation. They can be found on the website: howltheowl.com. She advocates to high school students and the general youth that although sudden changes in life may not be a common concern, we never know what will happen. Therefore, being prepared as an organ donor could potentially help someone else’s life. She also states that live organ donation is a way to help others in need. Therefore, it is important to make educated decisions on our outlook on organ donation and how we can be kind towards people in need.