[INSPRATIONAL MUSIC STING] - We are pleased to be joined by Iveth Gonzales, Bilingual Community Services Specialist, and also a daughter of a donor connected with the New Jersey Sharing Network, our longtime partners as we continue to create greater public awareness around organ and tissue donation.

Iveth, thank you for joining us.

We appreciate it.

- Thank you for having me, Steve.

- Talk to us about the very personal connection you have to the organ and tissue donation universe, particularly obviously as it relates to your dad.

- Yeah, so a lot of people ask me what brought me to the Sharing Network and I share with them that my dad brought me here.

I grew up in a Peruvian immigrant household, a family of four, and I am a first generation college graduate.

But last year my life changed drastically.

My father passed away and he was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

He was a very active person, he played soccer, and if he was not playing soccer with his friends he was actually playing football with my younger brother.

He was 47 at the time, and this news changed our lives forever.

He was in the hospital for two months bedside and then he did have to be emergency intubated, and which led him to go into the ICU for a couple of weeks.

With this news and this devastation, he was in the ICU.

And with the discussion of the healthcare team and nurses, my father's health with not making any meaningful recovery, and through this, this is where New Jersey Sharing Network came into our lives.

They brought hope and light at the darkest time.

They gave us an opportunity to give the gift of life through organ and tissue donation.

And automatically for us it was yes.

My father was a selfless person.

He would give the shirt off his back to anyone.

And he became an organ donor.

And through Kenny donation, he was able to save two lives.

And like I truly say, it's something painfully beautiful, painful because I lost my father, but beautiful because he was able to save two lives and bring light and hope into their lives.

- Your dad, Victor, 47 years of age.

- Yeah.

- And it's interesting how you said, Iveth, that I think you said very quickly or immediately you knew what the right thing to do was.

But my understanding, and we've talked to folks in the Sharing Network about resistance, pushback, misconceptions, the need to educate.

You told our producers that there was some pushback in your family.

What exactly was the pushback and how did you deal with it?

- So there was a lot of pushback from my father's side.

So my father is the youngest out of seven.

So everyone is older.

And like I did say, I come from a Peruvian traditional household, and they couldn't even believe the fact that, you know, he was, I would say sick and also in the ICU.

So they were waiting for a miracle to happen.

But there is a lack of trust with the medical hospital staff and the Hispanic community through a long period of time.

So with these news, we had to explain to them that he was not going to make meaningful recovery, and we had to sit down and we had to discuss.

And my mother and I knew what the answer was for us.

We knew he would make meaningful and give the gift of life through organ and tissue donation.

- Did you think that's what your dad would've wanted?

- Yes.

I truly believe.

He was a very selfless person and a giving person.

A lot of people knew him for his big contagious smile, and he would always give and help people the best way he could.

- Yeah, you know, and if I have this quote wrong, please help me, but I believe you told our producers that some of your dad's family members wanted him to go to heaven whole.

- No, that is correct.

- How did you respond to that?

- I had to respond in a way that they, you know, I had to simplify everything.

I had to make sure that they understood what this gift of life that my dad, you know, gave, I had to simplify everything into terms that they understood.

And especially this is, even the topic of death isn't really discussed in the Hispanic communities.

So even the fact that he was in the hospital on a ventilator, it was just not processing, but we had to sit down and just simplify the term.

- How did you connect with the Sharing Network to start working there?

- So actually because of the meaningful impact they had in my life during the darkest, literally darkest time, the New Jersey Sharing Network staff, they were there for my mom, my younger brother and I that last day.

And they were there to even walk us to our cars.

And that literally stuck with me.

And that's what brought me to Sharing Network.

And I actually graduated with my master's degree in Public Administration from Rutgers Newark.

And because of that, it stuck with me, I wanted to do something to help people, and make a change and educate.

And that's what brought me to the Sharing Network.

And I saw a job opening and applied.

- Iveth, let me put you on the spot here.

So one of the things we've learned about organ and tissue donation is that different communities, whether it's religious, ethnic, cultural, or there's a combination of issues, that people either push back on or need to be educated about what organ tissue donation really is versus what the misconceptions are.

Dare I impose upon you to send a message to the Hispanic community in Spanish that resonates with them.

And then you can tell us after what exactly you said, please.

Por favor, regístrese para ser donante de órganos y tejidos en nuestro página web.

Pueden salvar muchas vidas.

Un donante de órganos puede salvar ocho vidas y mejorar la vida de 75 personas o más.

Please.

- I said, please register to be an organ donor and a tissue donor, and you can register through our website www.NJSharingNetwork.org because you can save many lives.

One organ donor can save eight lives and enhance the lives of 75 people and more.

- Iveth, we've done a lot of programming connected to organ and tissue donation.

We call it public awareness, public education, but in reality, it's really people like you who through horrific, unimaginable tragedy, a loss of your father, Victor, at 47 years of age, choose not only to work at the Sharing Network but to come on the air and to share and to educate and to break down barriers.

You're a real leader and you're making a big difference.

Thank you so much, Iveth.

We appreciate it.

- Thank you, Steve.

- You got it.

Stay with us.

We'll be right back.

- [Narrator] State of Affairs with Steve Adubato Is a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Funding has been provided by RWJBarnabas Health.

PNC Foundation.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

The Fidelco Group.

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Community FoodBank of New Jersey.

PSEG Foundation.

And by The Adler Aphasia Center.

Promotional support provided by The New Jersey Business & Industry Association.

And by BestofNJ.com.

At the Community Food Bank of New Jersey, we are working now more than ever to fill the emptiness caused by hunger.

We are the state's largest anti-hunger organization.

And together with our 800 plus community partners, we are committed to delivering food, help, and hope, to our hundreds and thousands of neighbors in need.