65_RedRoses

Kathy’s Story – Part 1

Michelle — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 00:01:16 +0000

65_RedRoses is Eva’s story, but we know there are thousands of other transplant recipients with compelling stories to share as well. One such recipient is Kathy Meier, who received a double-lung transplant just over two years ago. She is doing well, and got in touch to share her story of living with CF and receiving her new set of lungs. Do you have a story? Contact us at outreach@65redroses.com

65_RedRoses: How did you hear about the film?

Kathy Meier: While I was waiting for transplant there was always people around talking about different stories and Eva’s name came up. One day when I was feeling up to going on the computer I decided to check out her blog, and from that day on she always had a place in my heart.

65RR: What did you feel when you first watched the film?

KM: When I watched her film it moved me to tears of course. She was truly an amazing woman. The ups and downs that she overcame were inspiring and I was really happy to see the friends that she was able to communicate with. The film was really well done and can’t wait to see the updated version on OWN.

65RR: How did you relate to Eva’s experience of building relationships with other CF patients through her blog and online, since those living with CF are discouraged from spending time together in person at the risk of infection.

KM: That is one of the really difficult things when dealing with CF, not being able to spend time with others having the disease. These are the only people that can completely relate to what you’re going through. I have two other siblings with CF and I think we became immune to one another’s germs so it was wasn’t as much of a burden within our family, but come on, who really gets along emotionally with their siblings when they’re young, am I right?

I lived in a small town growing up and cystic fibrosis wasn’t a very well known disease as it is now. I was diagnosed at the age of 9, my sister at 4 and brother at birth. We were pretty healthy kids other than unable to gain weight and myself having quite a lot of chest infections. The community wasn’t fully aware of what our family was going through at that point, but as we grew older they began to realize what my parents were up against. I know if at that point they had of asked for help, people would of gladly done anything for us. The advantages of living in a small town!

65RR: What was your support community while you were awaiting a transplant?

KM: Once I began having complications with my CF and was placed on the transplant waiting list, my friends (with the help of four area communities) came together and to my surprise had organized a silent auction and benefit dance to raise money to cover the costs that were accumulating everyday while living away from home. It was truly amazing. To this day, I still cannot believe how lucky I am to have so many supportive people in my life. Everyone is still asking how I’m doing and always roots for me. It’s incredible.

65RR: When you were born in 1978, the life expectancy of a person with CF was 11. Today it’s 35. As so much progress has been made in improving the health and quality of life for people with CF, are you hopeful for the future of CF treatments?

KM: I am so amazed at the treatments they have found to help treat cystic fibrosis. I can still remember going to my clinic appointments when I became an adult and looking around at the different people and wondering how old they were because they looked pretty darn good. I talked with one woman and was very bold in asking her age. She replied that she was 48. I was so thrilled to hear that. It gave me hope.

Life expectancy has always been an issue in my mind for me. I really thought it would get me in the end. But when I see and hear of so many people doing so well it really gives me hope for my siblings, and hope that one day CF will stand for Cure Found.

I can remember as a child my dad saying to me that hopefully within 10 years they will have a cure, as at that time they were finding out more and more information about the defective gene. Sadly that was about 20 years ago, but I will never give up hope!

Next week we’ll post Kathy’s transplant story! Do you have a story to share? Email us at outreach@65redroses.com

Free 65_RedRoses Screening at Capilano University!

Bella — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 01:40:30 +0000

On Thursday, March 8 2012, Capilano Univeristy will be hosting a free community screening of 65_RedRoses!

The screening will be happening at the Nat and Flora Bosa Centre for Film and Animation Theatre. The movie starts at 4:30pm will be followed by an audience Q&A with Capilano University president, Dr. Kris Bulcroft, members of BC Transplant, and 65_RedRoses co-director, Nimisha Mukerji. Everyone is welcome, students and the public alike!

Interested in hosting a screening of your own? Fill in the Screening Request Form and a campaign member will be in touch with you shortly. The film is available for community screenings both in the US and Canada.

Details:

Nat and Flora Bosa Centre for Film and Animation Theatre
2055 Purcell Way, North Vancouver BC, Canada
4:30PM- 6:30PM
Free admission
Full event info can be found on the Capilano University website.

Calling all Fans! Volunteer for the Campaign. #4Eva

Bella — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:57:20 +0000

Fans of 65_RedRoses — we need your help! We are gearing up the #4Eva campaign for organ donation and CF awareness for April and May. Can you help us spread the word and organize community screenings?

Email us at outreach@hellocoolworld.com if you’d like to help and we’ll be in touch shortly!

The new release of the film is available now in both the US and Canada for screenings, and will have it’s US broadcast premiere on OWN this spring. This new version, along with many extra features, will be available for sale in Canada in March for educational and home sales. Home pre-sales available now (Canada only). All our profits of sales of the film support this campaign.

Share your story on the 65_RedRoses blog!

Michelle — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 17:56:06 +0000

65_RedRoses is Eva’s story, but we know that the film has had a personal impact on many of you. And you have stories of your own, about awaiting or receiving an organ donation, or living with CF. We hope you’ll share your stories with us!

If you’d like to be interviewed on our blog about how Eva’s story touched your life, or share your own story about CF and organ donation, please get in touch! You can reach us by email, or on the 65_RedRoses Facebook Page, or via Twitter. We’ll post your stories on our blog and share them through the 65_RedRoses network.

As Eva’s story has demonstrated, one person’s experience can touch thousands of lives. By sharing your story, you could inspire others to register as organ donors, learn more about CF, or pass along your message!

You can also join the discussion on Twitter by using the hashtag #4Eva. Live life, pass it on!

Big Things Happening In 2012!

Michelle — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 21:45:06 +0000

Happy New Year to all the supporters of 65_RedRoses, friends of Eva, and folks everywhere living with CF! 2011 was a wonderful year of sharing Eva’s story and raising awareness about organ donation, but we’re excited that 2012 will be even bigger. We launched our new site design last week, and we hope you like it.

We’re getting closer to announcing the date of the 65_RedRoses premiere on Oprah Winfrey Network, but we can tell you right now that it will be happening in the Spring! On the Hello Cool World store, Canadian supporters can pre-order the new version of the DVD (with an updated ending, French subtitles, and interviews with the directors), which will be released in February. You can also order other 65_RedRoses merchandise from the store. All proceeds go back into the campaign for the film and Eva’s movement for organ donation.

For American supporters, we know you are eager to see and share Eva’s story. While the DVD is not available for sale in the US yet, you can organize a community screening. Please contact us for details! And be sure to check back here, as well as Facebook and Twitter, because we’ll be sure to let you know as soon as the DVD is available in the US. For the fastest updates, sign up to our mail list!In the meantime, we’ll be updating this site frequently with updates about community screenings, CF fundraising and awareness activities, and how you can support Eva’s legacy. We want 2012 to be a year of health and hope for the CF community, and we’re looking forward to making that happen with your help!

T-shirts and pendants featuring Eva’s Heart – now available in the Hello Cool World store!

Michelle — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 22:37:49 +0000

The photo collaboration between Eva and photographer Cyrus McEachern, featuring Eva’s spontaneous and beautiful heart design, has become an emblem of her spirit and legacy. It also inspired the photos of the Live Life, Pass It On campaign from BC Transplant, which features other recipients of organ donation.

The heart motif that has inspired thousands of people around the world is now available on the Hello Cool World store, as a pendant and printed on a t-shirt. All proceeds go to support Eva’s campaign for organ donation and cystic fibrosis awareness, letting you spread her love while wearing it or gifting it to someone in your life. The products are also produced in North America and sweatshop-free, and can be shipped to anywhere in Canada and the US!

This holiday season, give the gift of life and support organ donation and those living with cystic fibrosis. Visit the Hello Cool World online store to purchase, or for those in Vancouver, you can visit u s in person during December!

For those of you who are eagerly waiting for the premiere of 65_RedRoses on the Oprah Winfrey Network, we’re hoping to announce the date soon! We’ll also be releasing a new cut of 65_RedRoses, and the educational version of the film, in early 2012- so watch for updates! If you are interested in hosting a community screening of 65_RedRoses in Canada or the US, please contact us! We’d love to help you set it up.

Hello Cool World Holiday Store

525 Carrall St, Vancouver, BC, Canada
10:00AM-6:00PM
Monday to Friday
or by appointment (call 604 440 9160)

Watch Director Nimisha Mukerji speaking online about the film and the campaign

kat — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 15:56:54 +0000

Before Eva died, she collaborated with Cyrus McEachern to do a series of stunning photos which are part of her legacy and the campaign for Organ Donation and CF Awareness. You can see the photos that the filmmakers are using on this site. Eva and Cyrus also collaborated to do a series of photos for BC Transplant, that featured also other people who had received transplants. That campaign was rolled out last spring as the “Live Life. Pass it On. Campaign.

Eva’s collaboration with her friend Cyrus came about when was in medical school, and as he tells it: “In my first year, one of the cardiology professors hosted an annual heart-themed photo contest titled ‘Heartfelt images’. One of my ideas was to do a portrait and overlay an x-ray of a heart over the chest. I had gotten to know Eva over some lunches at UBC and I knew she liked photography and modeling, so I asked her to be my model – she enthusiastically obliged.”

When Eva showed up to Cyrus’ place she realized she had her face-paints in her car, without much of an idea of what they were doing Eva painted a heart on her chest in the mirror with an image from google as her guide. Cyrus says: “ I took hundreds of photos that afternoon, but the one with her arms over her head stood out to me like none other. I stayed up all night editing it, and came up with the image that has been featured in many newspapers, magazines, and of course Eva’s blog.”

Hello Cool World is the Canadian distributor for the film, and they are partnering with BC Transplant to unite and expand the Live Life. Pass It On campaign to include photos of Eva from both photoshoots, and to add the hashtag: #4Eva. Our vision in BC is to get the film into every high school.

Our overall mission is to promote Eva’s legacy and build a worldwide movement in her name, encouraging everyone to use the 65RedRoses.com as a way to sign up to become an organ donor wherever they are. We will be working with every group possible to create geo-targed direct links of our site to organ donation registries, especially when the film launches in the US on OWN next year. Join us!

Tune in today between 3pm-7pm PST via LiveStream.

@65_RedRoses

BC Woman Embarks on Cross-Canada Tour

Michelle — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 17:44:46 +0000

Kirstin Whitford launches 65_RedRoses, 65 Cities, 65 Days in memory of Eva and her late husband who both lost the battle to CF.
This past Saturday, August 20^th Kristin Whitford of Powell River, B.C. commenced a cross-Canada road trip with a mission: to raise awareness about cystic fibrosis (CF) and the need for organ donation. Throughout her trip, she’ll be giving a 65_RedRoses DVD to 65 different people.

Kirstin and Joey at a friend's wedding.

Kristin lost her husband Joey to CF in February of this year. Both Kirstin and Joey knew Eva and have kept in touch with her family. Their blog, Cystic Fibrosis Sucks, dates back to 2006 and chronicles their life together and his battle with CF.

Since Joey’s death, Kristin has continued blogging, advocating for organ donation registration, and spreading awareness about CF.

Now she is taking the cause offline with her coast-to-coast drive.

Kirstin departed her home town on August 20^th (the day that Joey’s 2-day lung transplant was completed) and aims to end her tour on October 24^th (the day that Eva had her double lung transplant)…exactly 65 days later.

Kristin is undertaking the trip with support and collaboration from the Vancouver chapter of Cystic Fibrosis Canada and Eva’s family. She hopes that through Eva’s story, the people who receive a 65_RedRoses DVD will be motivated to join her in helping to create awareness about CF and the importance of organ donation.

On August 26^th, she’ll be stopping in Vancouver to speak at the opening ceremonies for The Longest Game Ever Played, along with Eva’s father, Bill Markvoort.

The Longest Game Ever Played will last ten days, as forty women play a world-record-breaking 242-hour-long ice hockey game to promote awareness for CF. Funds from the event will go to the Cystic Fibrosis Canada. You can donate online by visiting the event page.

After Vancouver, Kirstin will be heading east. Her trip is still in the planning stages, so check back in with her blog regularly to learn where she’ll be.

A message from Kirstin:

“My hope is that by following my journey and increasing access to the film, people who are not otherwise directly impacted by these issues will see the human connection and help us work towards finding a cure. Those who are interested in helping can make a donation to help fight CF ( www.cysticfibrosis.ca ), register to be an organ donor and discuss their wishes with their friends and family ( www.transplant.bc.ca ), or make a contribution to help me along my travels ( www.cfsucks.com ). Thank you for your support!” – Kirstin Whitford, Powell River, B.C.

To learn more about Kristin and Joey, visit her blog, Cystic Fibrosis Sucks.

We’ll be tweeting and posting updates about her trip on the 65_RedRoses website and Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Follow Kirstin on Twitter @CFReallySucks

We’d like to wish Kirstin a great trip and look forward to following her progress along the way.

~Michelle R. and the Hello Cool World Team

@65_RedRoses @HelloCoolWorld

SFU Students Inspired by Eva

Colette — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 20:07:31 +0000

The image of Eva Markvoort, with her signature red hair and lips ablaze and her arms clasped behind her head proudly displaying a pair of hand-painted lungs caught SFU business student, Dickson Wong’s eye while he was traveling home from school on the bus one day with a friend.

Intrigued by the photo, Dickson and his friend pulled out their iPhones to find out the story behind this lovely red-haired woman.

From reading her story on the BC Transplant and 65RedRoses websites, they learned how Eva Markvoort, a young women and double lung recipient, along with her friend and UBC medical student Cyrus MacEachern created a series of transplant-inspired photographs to celebrate awareness about organ donation and that BC Transplant had commissioned the art project as part of a BC-wide awareness campaign.

The posters have been proudly displayed on buses and Skytrains across the province since National Organ Donor Awareness Week in April (17-24) and were clearly doing there job in bringing people’s attention to the issue.

Later that month, Dickson and his SFU Project Management classmates were challenged to come up with a marketing project. Recalling the impact that Eva’s photo had on him that day on the bus, Dickson proposed a photo contest to raise awareness about organ donor registration.

After brainstorming some ideas, the vision for the We Have A Heart photo contest emerged and Dickson and his team—made up of Michael, a Computer Science major and Yolanda and Julius both Business students like himself—put together a project proposal and submitted it to BC Transplant and 65_RedRoses for their blessing and support.

While working on the project and speaking to several classmates and friends, Dickson was surprised to find out that many of his friends were not organ donors.

Dickson and his team hope that the We Have A Heart photo contest helps to get their peers thinking and talking about organ donation and hopefully registering as donors. While the contest is targeted to university students, anyone is welcome to participate.

Here’s how:

1. Submit a photo here.

2. Comment and/or vote on your favorite photos here.

3. Promote the event/contest by sharing the link with your friends.

Prizes include a $50 Best Buy gift certificate and 65_RedRoses DVDs.

The contest asks for photo submissions that communicate the theme of LOVE and/or SHARING, but entrants are welcome to interpret these terms in any way that’s meaningful to them.

When interviewing Dickson for this post, he added that it is helpful to include a description about your inspiration for the photo.

Here’s a great example that was recently submitted by Joanna Mitchell.

TITLE: Loving and Living Life DESCRIPTION: Cousins..one with a new heart...one waiting for a new heart

The contest deadline has been extended an extra day and entries will be considered if uploaded before July 18^th.

The winning photo will be determined by online voting and the top entries will be exhibited at the SFU campuses in Burnaby and Surrey between July 18-20.

For full contest details and to enter, please visit: www.WeHaveAHeart.ca

In the spirit of both love and sharing, remember that becoming an organ donor costs nothing, yet for up to eight potential recipients that one donor can benefit, it can be the most valuable gift they receive.

~ Colette

@colette77 @hellocoolworld @65_RedRoses #4Eva

Painting 65 Red Roses

Nimisha — Mon, 30 May 2011 03:26:00 +0000

Hello wonderful people out there!

This post is about the 65_RedRoses painting inspired by Eva, which has found its home in the main lobby of BC Children’s Hospital!!! At the unveiling celebrations Eva’s Dad told me that when Eva was little they had to be at BC Children’s Hospital often, and to pass the time they wandered through the hallways playing Eye Spy. Her mom, who spoke on behalf of the family at the event, said that it warms their hearts to know that the painting will bring joy to the challenging times children and their families might spend at the hospital.

If you ever get the chance to see the painting in person, it’s a stunning compilation of 65 different roses - and the energy it gives off is pure positivity. The painting was generously donated by the Federation of Canadian Artists to Cystic Fibrosis Canada. It’s another beautiful part of Eva that’s found a permanent place in the city.

Commemorative prints of the painting are available for purchase at $65, plus shipping. To order, visit http://cfvancouver.ca/poster-orderform.php

The prints are 38″ wide x 21″ high. In addition, 8 x 10″ giclee reproductions of individual roses ($65 unframed or $85 framed) can be ordered. All proceeds from the sale of the 65 Red Roses prints will benefit Cystic Fibrosis Canada .

May is Cystic Fibrosis Awareness Month across the country and CF Canada held their annual Great Strides event today, with teams participating in both Vancouver and Toronto under the name Reddy for a Cure (which was created to raise funds in Eva’s name). To support Eva’s friends and family who participated you can click here

I watched the very last Oprah show last week, which really felt like the end of an era. There was a moment where Oprah talked about how all the viewers, the strangers out there have impacted her life in such a profound way. It made me remember a visit to Eva after she’d been diagnosed with chronic rejection. She was sitting in her bed surrounded by mail, reading letters from countless people she had never met before. I always felt like it was all the love she put out into the world coming back to her. Everyone involved with 65_RedRoses can’t wait to see the response that will happen once our friends in the US get to finally meet Eva through the film!

We want the Oprah Doc Club to be a huge success so please LIKE OWN’s Documentary Club Facebook page (click here) and don’t forget to tune in for Sons Of Perdition, which is the second film selected and airs on June 2nd!!! To see the exclusive OWN Doc Club Trailer for the film: Click here

Love, love, love!

Nimisha