A Richmond secondary student has been awarded a $1,500 scholarship for encouraging her fellow students and community to register as organ donors.
Cassandra Lau, a Grade 10 student at Hugh Boyd, was given the award by the BC Transplant, along with three other secondary students in B.C.
The Live Life. Pass It On Scholarship is part of awareness programs from the organization for grade 10-12 students developing inspiring and creative campaigns.
“Some might think that organ donation is an ‘adult topic’, but many young people like me are not as exposed to it and are also looking for information,” said Cassandra.
“This gave me motivation to reach as many people in my community as possible.”
According to BC Transplant – a program of the Provincial Health Services Authority of British Columbia - she plans to spark discussions to demystify the transplanting issue by sharing organ transplant recipients’ experiences and bridging the gap of misunderstanding.
As part of the scholarship, Cassandra will be delivering classroom presentations and a social media campaign to encourage her fellow students and community to register as organ donors.
B.C. was the first province in Canada with an official organ donation registry and ranked top in deceased organ donor rate in 2021 – almost 50 per cent higher than the national rate with 28.5 donors per million, according to BC Transplant.
