Editor’s note: A previous version of this article mistakenly reported that Aliye Ringe died when Tori Termini was in high school. Termini was in college.
LSU mass communication senior Tori Termini has been directly impacted by something she never experienced before.
One day, when she was in college, she got the news that her friend Aliye Ringe had been in a car accident.
Ringe didn’t have to suffer, Termini thought at the time. Or die, which happened shortly after the accident.
The silver lining? Termini found out that Ringe was an organ donor. Her organs saved five people’s lives on Christmas day that year. Ringe was what people in the organ donor movement call a hero.
For Termini, that experience prompted a passion of spreading organ donation awareness state and nationwide. She co-founded Tigers for Donating Life (TDL) in partnership with the Louisiana Organ Procurement Agency (LOPA) as a means of spreading awareness directly on LSU’s campus.
“There is a lot of misinformation about organ donation that stems from media, films and TV shows, so we try to be a reliable source on campus spreading the impact of organ donation directly,” she said.
LOPA’s website indicates that nearly 2,000 people are on the waitlist for a life-saving organ transplant in Louisiana. Most of those are waiting on a kidney. But despite the negative aspects, there are positives.
In fact, in 2022, Louisiana donor heroes saved a record of 670 lives thanks to LOPA.
According to one of LOPA’s community educators, Lori Steele, LOPA’s mission every day is to “make life happen.”
It’sthe sole organ procurement agency in Louisiana. Working with donor families and recipients, LOPA employees provide support and assist with organ donation in many ways.
Steele explained the extent of an impact you can have as an organ donor.
“One person can save up to eight lives. One tissue donor can save and enhance up to 75. One cornea donor can give sight to two people,” she said.
Steele is educated on Louisiana organ donation policy and intends to teach others too. She wants to inspire them with the help of LOPA’s partnerships to be organ donors.
“Because of the work we are doing together, the registry in Louisiana is 2.7 million strong. That is more than half of the population in the state of Louisiana and our goal is to reach the other half,” Steele said.
She’s hopeful that the partnerships between LOPA and LSU continue because it’s all about saving lives.

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Termini was even lucky enough to discover that her college within LSU, the Manship School of Mass Communication, has been doing the same thing for almost 11 years. In fact, because of the Manship School, the relationship between LOPA and LSU has had an impact across campus, Louisiana and the United States.
A key person on the LSU side of the partnership is Sadie Wilks.
Wilks is a public relations professor at the Manship School of Mass Communication as well as the faculty adviser for TDL. She’s worked to build organ donation awareness at LSU and beyond for eight years now.
Wilks teaches a class at LSU called public relations campaigns. Through this course, she’s worked with LOPA using LSU to oversee campaigns done by her students for the organ procurement organization.
“This semester as we take on LOPA as a client, my students in that group are working on a submission for the National Organ Donor Awareness Competition (NODAC) that is put on by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSSA),” said Wilks.
For this competition, LSU won first place back in 2014 and got second in 2015. Since Wilks has been in charge, 2024 is the first year LSU is re-entering the competition because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Wilks is confident in the campaign that is being submitted this semester since Termini is on the team. They said they’re both ready to maintain LSU’s successful reputation.
Wilks boosts organ donation outside of her job too. She and Steele have developed a close relationship and have even published a book regarding organ donation education. It’s titled “Ava’s Wish.”
Ava Grace was a six-year-old girl whose organs were donated after she died in a car accident in 2016. LOPA had a goal to publish a book about her story to further explain to others the positive impact of being a donor hero. This book was especially tailored to Grace’s twin sister, to help her understand how strong her sister was.
Steele approached Wilks with the idea of joining the project and helping write it.
“Ava Grace and her twin went to elementary school with my son, so I felt connected to the story and wanted to help make the project a success,” said Wilks.
That’s exactly what she did. Because of the success of “Ava’s Wish,” Wilks and Steele went on to win Happy Awards in 2024. Happy Awards are given annually to 10 individuals to recognize excellence in service-learning.
Service-learning is an important aspect of everyday life, and learning about organ donation can save lives. Ringe’s story sparked a new LSU organization. Her grandmother, Leah Veck, continues to advocate for her and consistently volunteers for LOPA. She explained the importance of this awareness.
“Out of a tragedy,” she said, “there is a light, and that light is that you can help save others.”