(bright music) - Transplant recipients, donor families, and community outreach efforts combine to save lives with DonorConnect Foundation.

Franny Johnson and Tif Blue are here to talk about how the organization honors loved ones and also helps inspire hope throughout the region.

Thank you so much for being here.

- Thanks for having us.

- Thank you.

- So tell me a bit about DonorConnect and I hear that the Foundation is a new aspect this year.

- It is, so DonorConnect has been around for almost 40 years.

It is our organ procurement organization, and we oversee all of Utah, parts of Idaho, Wyoming, and Nevada.

And what DonorConnect does is we facilitate organ and tissue and eye donation and match deceased donors with recipients in the area.

- And how is the Foundation a new part of that?

- So the Foundation just started this year.

We just became official in February and we created it as a philanthropic arm to the organization.

With a lot of recent worries and concerns about funding, the Foundation is gonna help supplement the programs that we provide for our donor families and for the community.

- What's the current need looking like right now?

- The current need is pretty vast, actually.

So we have a large amount of donor families that have gone through the tissue and organ donation process.

And we really strive to focus on honoring those donors and doing things like bereavement support large-scale memorial events, 5Ks, things like that, that really support those donor families so that they have continuous support following donation.

- Yeah, why do you think it's important to make sure that people are aware of these stories and aware of what kind of an impact this has?

- So many reasons, I'll let you- - No, I'll let you.

Go ahead.

- Okay, well, first of all, I think that the connections are incredibly important.

So when people hear these stories, it helps them to understand the true value and the true gift that is the gift of life.

And then it also promotes education so people learn about what people went through.

So I think it's just, it's overwhelming and I think it's important for people to hear and understand those things.

- I agree.

Thank you so much for the work that you do and for stopping by as well.

If you would like to learn more about DonorConnect, the Foundation as well, you can head to dcfoundation.life for more information.

I'm Liz Adeola.

Thank you for watching "Contact."

(bright music) Philanthropy, arts, culture.

It's what brings us together.

Hi, I'm Liz Adeola, the new host of “Contact,” a show that connec with local events and organizati that serve your community.

If you work for a nonprofit and to be on “Contact,” please visit pbsutah.org/contact