April is National Donate Life Month. It is also National Volunteer Month. Becoming an organ donor could be the ultimate act of volunteering to help others.
In New York, nearly 10,000 people are currently waiting for a life-saving organ transplant and every 15 hours, one of them will die due to the critical shortage in organ donors. Currently, New York ranks 48th in the nation with just 21% of residents enrolled as registered organ donors. Are you an organ donor?
Many people do not become organ donors until someone they know is directly affected by a tragedy. But why wait? Consider becoming an organ donor now. Registering to be an organ donor is a charitable act that costs nothing. It allows a donor to save up to eight lives through organ donation, and to save or improve the lives of up to 50 recipients through tissue and eye donation.
This year, The New York Public Library, The Brooklyn Public Library and the Queens Library are teaming up with the NYS Department of Health and the New York Organ Donor network to raise awareness and share information about organ donation in order to increase enrollment. To learn more, stop by your local library to pick up an informational brochure or visit HatetheWait.org. Don't keep a fellow New Yorker waiting — become an organ donor today.