Donors Honored and Transplant Recipients Celebrated at Flag-Raising Ceremony Hosted by Montefiore Einstein, Donate Life and LiveOnNY

Montefiore Einstein’s Center for Transplantation, in partnership with Donate Life America and LiveOnNY, was proud to raise the Donate Life flag during its annual ceremony to honor the generosity of organ donors and their families and to acknowledge transplant recipients and those still waiting for transplants. The event celebrates lives saved through the gift of organ donation and encourages people to register to donate.

Doctors, patients and donor families shared their inspirational stories at the ceremony in the Grand Hall of the Moses Campus.

Alana Howell, who received her liver transplant at Montefiore Einstein in 2023, stressed the importance of signing up to be an organ donor and considering becoming a living donor. She was placed on a transplant list after her cancer returned and said she does not know where she would be today without the donor’s liver. “The more we educate, the more others understand, the more we can do to help save more lives. Please start talking to all those you know to encourage others to be donors. Donors save lives.”

Barbara Cuellar talked movingly about her late son Matthew Otero, whose life was tragically cut short at age 31. He had registered to be an organ donor, and his kidney donation saved two lives, while his tissue donation healed many others.

“That is a beautiful legacy, and I am proud of my son for his generosity and selflessness,” Cuellar said. “I love you, Matty.”

“It is our hope that today as we thank you and honor your loved ones that you feel the warmth and support of a community that holds you in esteem,” said Daniel Goldstein, MD, Vice Chairman, Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, and Director, Cardiac Transplantation and Mechanical Assistance Programs, Montefiore Einstein and Professor, Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, Albert Einstein College of Medicine. “May you find comfort in knowing that your decision has brought light into darkness and has forever changed the course of many lives.”

Other speakers at the ceremony included Laura Butler, MMHC, FNP-BC, Associate Vice President, Transplant Services, Montefiore Einstein; Jeffrey M. Weiss, MD, Senior Vice President, Medical Affairs, Montefiore Einstein, and Associate Professor, Medicine (General Internal Medicine), Albert Einstein College of Medicine; and Abraham Warshaw, MD, Chief Medical Officer, LiveOnNY.