Hospitals, Elected Officials, Advocates and Others Embrace the Lifesaving Power of Organ Donation to Help the 10,000 New Yorkers Currently Waiting for a Life-Saving Transplant
New Yorkers across the state will come together virtually on October 8 to digitally and safely register as many organ donors as possible in celebration of the sixth annual Organ Donor Enrollment Day. Powered by LiveOnNY, Organ Donor Enrollment Day brings individuals and organizations together to spend one day focused solely on educating and enrolling people to save the lives of the approximately 113,000 Americans – nearly 10,000 of whom live in New York – currently waiting for a life-saving transplant.
This year, most activations will take place remotely and the few that are in person will include masks and social distancing to keep participants safe. Over 125 hospitals, elected officials, government agencies, community organizations and educational institutions have committed to sending emails, posting to their social media accounts and sharing information, all in an effort to promote the lifesaving power of organ donation.
There will be dozens of activations and limited socially distanced in person events taking place across the region, including:
- Town of Ossining: The Town of Ossining will host a Zoom-A-Thon on Thursday, October 8th at 3pm.
- Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center:Senator Zellnor Myrie will be on-site to host a safe and socially distanced event to support Organ Donor Enrollment Day, voter registrations and the 2020 census. Socially distanced tabling will be held from 12:00pm-2:00pm.
- Staten Island University Hospital: Flag raising on Thursday, October 8thto kick-off a day on internal hospital events such as tabling inside the hospital and on staff units along with other digital communications.
“New Yorkers have been through a lot this year, but in difficult times we always come together to support one another,” said LiveOnNY President and CEO Helen Irving. “We hope this Organ Donor Enrollment Day will inspire more people to learn about the power of organ donation and to have conversations about their end of life wishes. Just as masks save lives, so do life-saving organ donors. Let’s come together to bring hope to the nearly 10,000 people in our state still waiting for a transplant.”
On average, a New Yorker dies every day waiting for an organ transplant. A contributing factor to this statistic is that there are simply not enough residents registered as organ donors. Forty percent of New Yorkers are registered as organ donors compared to 60 percent nationally. Organ Donor Enrollment Day aims to change that.
The day is deeply personal for many participants like Angelica Sanchez who is currently waiting for a heart transplant and will be virtually participating. Organ Donor Enrollment Day brings much needed attention on a single day to the power of organ, eye and tissue donation. For more information about Organ Donor Enrollment Day, please visit EnrollmentDay.org and follow LiveOnNY on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram using #DonorDay2020.
