Dear Colleagues and Friends,

Facebook has partnered with Donate Life America to save lives – Facebook users can now share their decision to be an organ, eye and tissue donor on their Timeline!  Facebook’s Timeline profile structure allows Facebook users to declare and share their organ donor status, and features a link to Donate Life America’s National Registration Page. Going to this page, allows individuals to legally designate their organ decision donation through their state’s Donor Registry.  

As a result of this collaboration, state donor registries across the country reported a dramatic increase in online donor designations.  “The surge in online donor designations greatly exceeded our expectations,: said David Fleming, President and CEO of Donate Life America.  “Facebook’s commitment to helping save lives has resulted in an immediate response that dwarfs any past organ donation initiative.”

According to Dr. Christopher Barry of The University of Rochester Medical Center, “This is a perfect vehicle for all of us to begin the conversation about organ donation and transplantation, learn more about what is exactly involved, and to start having thoughtful conversations with our friends and loved ones about the subject. Hopefully, many people will be moved to register their intentions to become an organ donor and thousands of lives can be saved or improved.”

On average, New York State receives 17 online registrations per day.  On the first day of the collaboration between Facebook and Donate Life America, 764 new NYS online registrations were received.  That is a 4394% increase!

To join in these efforts, got to Timeline on your Facebook page,  click on “life Event,” select Health and Wellness,” choose “Organ Donor.”  And make sure to click on the “Officially register” link to make your decision to be a donor official by registering in your state.  By sharing this opportunity with our friends and families, you can help keep this amazing momentum going!

Other Resources:
Official Press Release
Step by step guide to adding donor status on Facebook
Facebook Post to share on your Facebook Timeline
Mark Zuckerberg’s Blog Post
Mark Zuckerberg’s Interview
All ABC Coverage on the Initiative

Finger Lakes Donor Recovery Network (FLDRN) is pleased to join hospitals and transplant centers in the Finger Lakes, Central and Northern New York regions as they celebrate Donate Life Month in April. Together they are honoring and celebrating the hundreds of thousands of donors and recipients whose lives have been touched by organ and tissue donation across the country.

Locally, more than 900 patients are waiting for a kidney, heart, liver or pancreas transplant. Hundreds of others in our area will be helped this year by tissue transplants such as cornea, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves.

“We salute the donors who have given the Gift of Life to help others in desperate need and to their families who supported their wish to be a donor or made the decision on their behalf,” said Rob Kochik, executive director of Finger Lakes Donor Recovery Network. “April is a time to remember the selfless gifts and their impact, and to raise awareness about the importance of organ and tissue donation. We encourage everyone to make this very personal commitment to become a donor and to tell their family of their wishes”

April is a time to remember the selfless gifts and their impact, and to raise awareness about the importance of organ and tissue donation. — Rob Kochik, Finger Lakes Donor Recovery Network

In an effort to increase enrollments in the New York State Donate Life Registry, the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), in Cooperation with the Department of Health (DOH) and all of the organ procurement organizations (OPOs), tissue banks and eye banks, will coordinate a variety of efforts through marketing efforts in local DMV offices, the DMV website and through mailings and other public events.

Some of the marketing efforts in DMV offices will include “tabling” at local offices, spots on Motor Vehicle Network (MVN) in district offices, distribution of campaign materials to offices, employees and customers and staff training on the importance of becoming an organ donor.

In addition to the marketing activities, DMV will include a line in MyDMV that will make it easier to link to the registry and sign-up as an organ donor.

The community also can show support by wearing blue and green, the colors that signify organ donation and transplantation, on April 20, 2012.

All New Yorkers are encouraged to become a donor by enrolling in the New York State Donate Life Registry at www.donorrecovery.org

More than 200 transplant professionals, patients and family members of donors attended a gala dinner event in Rochester to celebrate the milestone. The keynote speaker was Charity Tilleman-Dick, a world-renowned soprano who received a double-lung transplant at the Cleveland Clinic in 2009. Just eight months later, she performed before the doctors, nurses, and support staff who had saved her life.

Finger Lakes Donor Recovery Network coordinates organ donation in 20 counties with a population of 2.4 million and serves 38 hospitals in the Finger Lakes region, as well as central and northern New York. It is one of 58 organ procurement organizations in the United States, one of four in New York state. It is one of only seven hospital-affiliated OPOs in the nation. FLDRN was created 25 years ago and helped facilitate the first kidney transplant surgery at Strong Memorial Hospital. Its mission is to save lives through organ donation and offer comfort to grieving families.

Last year, FLDRN helped recover 157 organs in its coverage region. There are nearly 900 people waiting today for organ transplants in FLDRN’s coverage area at the University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester and Upstate Medical University in Syracuse. Last year, 165 patients received life-saving transplants at the two transplant centers.

New York residents can join this effort by signing up  with the NY Donate Life Registry today.

In 2006, DLA launched the Donor Designation Collaborative (DDC) as a nationwide effort to improve organ, eye and tissue donation rates. A main tactic for achieving the DDC’s goals is ensuring that each state has an effective system for allowing individuals to legally designate themselves as donors. Since the DDC’s launch, there has been a 45 percent increase in the number of designated donors in the United States.  
 
On average, nearly 8 million people join a state donor registry each year; a majority (97 percent) joins through state departments of motor vehicles (DMV’s).  Therefore, DLA builds strong relationships with many DMV officials throughout the nation to encourage education and training of their staff to help them better advocate for organ, eye and tissue donation.
 
As the DDC works to increase the number of donors, the high percentage of registrations through DMV’s poses a new challenge to overcome. The majority of state donor registries were created nearly a decade ago. Once a registry goes through its first driver’s license/ID card renewal cycle (ranging from every 4 to every 12 years depending on the state), new designated donors come from only three sources – first-time drivers, new residents, and current residents who previously elected not to register. This maturity factor decreases the ability to sustain high donation rates through DMV efforts alone– a fact that necessitates new strategies to promote registrations.
 
“As we lay the foundation to register an additional 20 million people by the end of 2012, we are developing strategies to overcome the obstacles presented by maturing registries.  We are not deterred by the challenges ahead,” says Donate Life America Chairperson, Helen W. Bottenfield. “Our primary goal is to preserve human life and improve the quality of life for those in need of organ, corneal and tissue transplants.  We will remain focused and find creative ways to reach, educate and motivate those who have not yet registered as donors.”
 
As of June 30, 2011, data reported by Donate Life America state teams revealed 42 percent of U.S. adults (age 18 and older) are registered as organ, eye and tissue donors.  States with the highest percentage included: Alaska and Montana (78 percent each) and Washington (74 percent).

New York residents can join this effort by signing up  with the NY Donate Life Registry today.