Vermont achieves milestone during National Donate Life Month
with over 40,000 registered Organ and Tissue Donors!
The 10th Annual National Donate Life Month has officially come to a close. This year proved to be one of the biggest for Vermont, as the state enjoyed participating in the festivities for the 3rd year since the online organ and tissue donor registry became active.
The month started off strong, as Donate Life Vermont supporters helped spread the word on social media about the importance of registering to become an organ and tissue donor. Supporters also banded together to promote the 2nd Donate Life Vermont 5K Walk for Organ Donor Awareness.
We received great news on April 8th, that Dan Billado, a Swanton resident who been waiting for a heart transplant at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, finally got the news he had waited eight months for; he was getting a heart! Dan was featured in a documentary produced by Heritage Toyota Scion (also known as The H Team) entitled “Less Than 5%.” It covered the fact that Vermont has the lowest number of registered organ and tissue donors, with less than 5% of the total population registered. DLVT wishes Dan and his family nothing but a continued recovery and good health!
Click this photo to watch the story about Dan’s good news!
On April 23rd, the South Burlington Department of Motor Vehicles celebrated Donate Life Month. A press conference was held, with members of the Center for Donation & Transplant (CDT) and New England Organ Bank, along with Vermont Department of Health Commissioner Harry Chen, MD and Department of Motor Vehicles Commissioner Robert Ide. The conference allowed everyone involved with DLVT to thank Vermonters who have signed up to save lives through organ and tissue donation. Being able to register at the DMV has had a very positive impact on the number of people signing up to donate life in Vermont.
Celebrating Donate Life Month at the South Burlington DMV. Click this photo to read the full story!
Donate Life Vermont held the 2nd 5K Walk for Organ Donor Awareness on April 27th. This year, more than 150 advocates for organ donation came out to walk the 5K Loop at the University of Vermont. Recipients, living donors, donor families, and transplant waiting list patients (we mean you Tammy Shackett!) came out to walk in support of the cause and loved ones. Even Dan Billado was able to attend and thank everyone for their support during his wait for a new heart. Donate Life Vermont is so honored and blessed to have such a wonderful group of supporters to help spread awareness about the need for organ and tissue donors in Vermont. Thank you to Wings Over Burlington and CashAdvance.com for being sponsors and to all the businesses who donated items for us to raffle off, including: Ben & Jerry’s Scoop shop, Klingers Bread Company, Magic Hat Brewing Company, Boloco, and Rhino Foods! A big thanks to Manhattan Pizza and Bruegger’s Bagels for the delicious food, and Hannaford for donating water and other items! Donate Life Vermont was able to raise over $800 to donate to the Center for Donation and Transplant (CDT) to be used in helping spread awareness about organ and tissue donation in VT. Take a look at all the pictures from the event here: http://bit.ly/DLVT-5KWalkPhotos.
Check out all the photos from the 5K Walk for Organ Donor Awareness by clicking here! Feel free to tag yourself in any photo you are in!
Finally, on April 29th, a special event was held at the State House with Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin and members of CDT, New England Organ Bank, and other advocates for organ donation in Vermont. With a few signatures, Governor Shumlin officially declared April as Donate Life Month in Vermont! Governor Shumlin has been a wonderful supporter of organ and tissue donation. His help has been extremely appreciated in an effort to make a change in Vermont this year, and in the years to come!
After signing the proclamation, Governor Shumlin gave the signing pen to the wife of local heart recipient Art Magnaghi.
We are very excited to share the biggest news, which came at the end of the month:
Vermont started April with 35,950 registered organ and tissue donors, and in just 30 days the registry jumped up to 40,286 – an increase of 4,336 registrants during National Donate Life Month!
Donate Life Vermont would like to thank EVERYONE who participated this year during Donate Life Month. A big thank you, in particular, to organ donation supporter Jim Carter, who seemed to be at every event that occurred this month!
The Donate Life Vermont team (Lauren, Sara, Scott, Chelsea, Dave, along with everyone at the CDT) can’t thank you all enough. You’re our feet on the street, our advocates, and our voices to everyone who needs to be informed about the importance of organ and tissue donation. In short – you’re all amazing and we are so very thankful for your help!
Let’s not stop here – let’s keep pushing forward! Tell new friends about the importance of registering to become an organ and tissue donors. Think up a creative way to help us hold an organ donor registry drive or tell someone to come read this article and find out about just how important our cause is and encourage them to register to become an organ and tissue donor and share that decision with their family. Email any idea or event you are interested in holding to Sara@donatelifevt.org.
Thank you once again – and congratulations on a successful National Donate Life Month!
For questions please contact Sara at sara@donatelifevt.org
