Organ donor families honored by recipients at community celebration | News [Video]

SPOKANE, Wash. – A community celebration honored organ, eye, and tissue donations this Saturday with stories shared from both donor families and recipients.

The event, hosted by Life Center Northwest, recognized the families whose loved ones were donors and connected them with the recipients.

“It’s a very unique feeling to lose a child and then to pair that with organ donation,” said Rhonda Parkhurst.

Parkhurst’s son Robbie passed away almost four years ago. She said he loved to help others, making it fitting for him to be an organ donor. This was her third time coming to the donation celebration.

“It is super sad but there is hope in that sadness,” Parkhurst said.

Saturday’s event offered healing moments through conversations and activities, such as one where donor families hung a leaf with a quality of their loved one written on it to honor their legacy.

Mary Goodwin, a lung organ …