On March 11th, Nevada Donor Network (NDN) is honored to bring awareness to National Funeral Home Professionals Appreciation Day. They are often referred to as the last responders because funeral home professionals are there at the end of a person’s life journey to help stand beside family and friends who are planning how they will honor their loved ones. We are proud to partner with funeral homes all over Nevada to guarantee that heroic donors’ end of life decisions, including organ, eye and tissue donation, are honored. Without these important partnerships, we could not fulfill our mission. Education is at the center of this. One of the most common misconceptions when it comes to donation is that a heroic donor cannot have an open casket funeral. Donors are always treated with the utmost dignity and respect. Organs and tissues are recovered in a surgical procedure, and all incisions are closed and dressed, making every effort to minimize changes to physical appearance. We would like to introduce you to a few of our partners who take time out of their incredibly busy days to create a positive donation culture within their teams!
We would like to first introduce you to Jeff Baughn from Northern Nevada! He is a Funeral Director at Neptune Society. Jeff moved to Nevada in 2018 to be a Funeral Director and Embalmer at a funeral home in Carson City where he worked until January of 2024. He then joined the Neptune Society team in February 2024 and truly feels honored to help families with their loved ones’ final arrangements and wishes. He has assisted in the past with transportation of heroic donors that NDN has had the honor of serving and then decided to become one of our Advocates for Life in 2024 so he could volunteer at events. Jeff believes as a registered organ, eye and tissue donor himself, it is great to be able to support NDN. He believes we provide great services for families even after the donation has occurred through our grief support groups. Jeff shared that he feels donation is the most selfless gift and that anyone can give hope. 
We would also like to introduce you to Denice Carpenter (Funeral Director) and Sadie Quartucci (Service Manager) from Neptune Society. Denice started in 2015 at Walton's Funeral Home and was promoted to manager of one of the facilities that was a care center location. She gained experience working with NDN through transporting heroic donors that arrived in her care and offered their facility for tissue recovery when needed (day or night). Denise is now with the Neptune Society team and an Advocate for Life with NDN. Sadie moved to Reno in 2017 with experience from working with NDN in Southern Nevada. She started her career at Palm Mortuaries in 2014 and volunteered at different events that were held locally. Sadie met Denice in 2017 while they both were working at Walton's Funeral Home before accepting a promotion as a manager at the Neptune Society. This is when she brought the NDN partnership to fruition with Neptune Society in Northern Nevada! Sadie has always admired the caring nature and professionalism of the entire NDN team when it comes to the families they serve together. Denice and Sadie are proud to be partners and volunteers with NDN. They designed their website to bring awareness to donation while supporting our shared families. For every donor family that the Neptune Society serves at their location, they offer a donor memory box to give a more meaningful experience to the families. Denice and Sadie believe in NDN’s mission. They feel quite a few Nevadans do not fully understand how organ, eye and tissue donation works along with just how many people are able to be saved and healed through the ultimate gift. This partnership allows them to educate and guide families not only regarding their loved ones, but also for the future if they are inspired to become a heroic donor themselves.
In Southern Nevada, we would like to introduce you to Jayden Hoskins. He has been working for Davis Funeral Home as a removal technician for two years and it has changed his life for the better. Jayden now has a different view on life and the afterlife. He feels blessed to be one of the individuals to pick up fallen loved ones in our community. Jayden believes life is too short to not be happy or not be loved and we all need to take every opportunity we can in life to do good on this planet. He feels that partnering with NDN has been an amazing experience because we are literally saving lives by giving others a second chance through organ, eye and tissue donation. Jayden is sure that a lot of people feel that after they pass away that life is over, but there are many ways to have your legacy live on and donation is one of those. You have the power to give someone suffering in life freedom from their illness and pain. You can give the blind their sight back. Jayden believes we are all a family, strangers or not, and the person sitting next to you could be the one to save your life in the future. Now more than ever, Jayden encourages you all to come together to keep this legacy of humanity going by registering to be a heroic organ, eye and tissue donor!
Inspired by our partnerships that give back to our mission? Learn more here!