Organ and Tissue Donation - Gift of Life Donor Program
Organ donors save lives – a simple, but powerful fact. In fact, in 2006, Gift of Life Donor Program – the federally designated, nonprofit organ procurement organization (OPO) serving eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware – coordinated 1,131 life-saving transplants. That gave many of our neighbors, friends, and community members a second chance at life.
But unfortunately, thousands of others continue to wait – nearly 5,300 in this region alone. This makes it imperative to get the word out and let more people know about donation. Just one organ and tissue donor can save or enhance the lives of up to 50 people.
Since 1974, Gift of Life has served as the link between donors and patients awaiting life-saving transplants. In that tenure, the OPO has coordinated more than 25,000 organ transplants and hundreds of thousands of tissue transplants.
Gift of Life serves 15 organ transplant centers and partners with approximately 150 acute care and specialty hospitals in its service region to coordinate all possible donation opportunities and ensure the donor family is cared for throughout the process.
It has been a remarkable achievement to remain one of the nation’s leaders in transplantation, helped greatly by the exceptional generosity of the thousands of donors and donor families. Additionally, Gift of Life works in the community with the help of hundreds of donor families and recipients to educate others on the need for more donors.
Throughout April’s celebration as National Donate Life Month, Gift of Life makes an even more committed effort to bring awareness about this public health crisis into the community. During this time, it is particularly important that everyone comes together and helps support those who are waiting for a life saving transplant. National Donate Life Month is highlighted with several events in greater Philadelphia region that illustrate the critical shortage of organs and tissue for transplantation.
Everyone can do his or her part to help – either by participating in an event, telling your family of your decision to become a donor, or even just taking two minutes to go online and register as a donor. Ordinary people have the ability to showcase extraordinary power and help save lives through donation.
It’s now even easier to make your wishes known by adding the donor designation online. In Pennsylvania, you can log directly onto the Department of Transportation Web site and sign up as a donor. Links to the site can be found at http://www.donatelife-pa.org.
“We know that most people are supportive of donation – but in April, we want to let everyone know that they have the ability to go online 24 hours a day, seven days a week and put the designation on their license or state ID,” said John Green, Gift of Life’s Director of Community Relations.
“In only 90 seconds, you can register to help save 50 lives.”
Unfortunately, there is still much need for donors. Each day 18 people in the U.S. die waiting for a life-saving organ transplant. More than 100,000 people in the nation are on the transplant waiting list, and that number increases every day.
April is the perfect time to take the steps and get the word out – donation saves lives.
For more information about organ and tissue donation, and on how to spread awareness about it, please visit Gift of Life’s Web site, www.donors1.org, or call 800-DONORS-1 and ask to speak with a member of the Community Relations department.