Nicholas Green - Memorials

Memorials

A memorial bell tower (The Children's Bell Tower) has been built in Bodega Bay in memory of Nicholas Green and all the children, using more than 140 bells sent to the Greens from individuals, families, schools, and churches all over Italy. The monument, set in Bodega Bay, where Nicholas and his family lived, has become a place of pilgrimage as well as a tourist attraction. The central bell, donated by the Marinelli Foundry, that has been making bells for the Papacy for more than 1000 years, was blessed by Pope John Paul II. It has the names of the seven recipients of Nicholas' organs inscribed on it. The monument is a work of San Francisco's sculptor Bruce Hasson.

Another sculpture, called "The Birds", has been donated by the Greens to the Calabria Region and is located at the Regional Council Palace. It depicts seven birds (like Nicholas' organs that were donated and the number of the recipients) made of steel, floating in a sort of tower. Also this monument is work of Bruce Hasson. He used the steel of guns confiscated by San Francisco Police Department.

An educational video has been made out of their story, called 'The Nicholas Effect'. It is currently shown in hospitals all around the United States and is used by procurement organizations, hospitals, churches, to spread a message of solidarity and the importance of donation. It tells the story of Nicholas, how his organs saved the lives of seven very sick Italians, and how this thing changed the attitude of a whole Country towards organ donation. Since Nicholas died, organ donation rates in Italy have more than tripled, bringing Italy from being at the bottom among European Countries in donation to one of the top of the list (currently Italy is second, after Spain, as far as organ donation rates).

Reginald Green wrote two books: the first called "The Nicholas Effect" (Il Dono di Nicholas, in Italiano) and the second called "The Gift that Heals" (Il Dono che Guarisce, in Italian), published jointly with UNOS (United Network for Organ Sharing) - the non-profit organization that manages the United States's organ transplant system under contract with the federal government. Both books have been highly acclaimed by media and specialists of organ donation all around the world . They are used in nursing schools, hospitals, churches, since the books are considered a complete and useful work on organ donation.

The Greens established also a Scholarship for primary and middle school children in the United States that every year goes to a student in every State that distinguished himself. The Award is managed by the NAGC (the National Association for Gifted Children).

The World Transplant Game Federation dedicated to Nicholas Green the ski race for transplanted children: it is the "Nicholas Cup". It has been held in Nendaz Switzerland in 2001, Bormio in Northern Italy in 2004, Poland in 2005, and Rovaniemi Finland in 2008. Next time it will take place in Anzere Switzerland in March 2012.

A TV movie, Nicholas' Gift, starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Alan Bates, was based on the event.

Several schools, streets, gardens and squares in Italian cities have been named or renamed in honor of Nicholas Green.