Each April, Kentucky’s circuit clerks work alongside Donate Life Kentucky to celebrate National Donate Life Month (NDLM) — an observance focusing attention to the national need for organ, eye and tissue donation that will save lives through transplants.
There is an importance in registering one’s decision to be a donor, as it honors deceased and living donors, and celebrates lives saved.
Donate Life is the national brand for the cause of donation, and it unites 100,000 patients waiting for transplant, donor families who say “yes” in their time of grief, and more than 170 million Americans who have registered their decision to be a donor.
More than 2 million Kentuckians have registered since 1992, largely in part to the work of circuit clerks.
Lisa Thomas, Trigg County’s circuit clerk, said as of last week, more than 1,000 children and adults are in need of a lifesaving organ transplant in the Commonwealth alone. Registering, she added, gives hope to those in waiting.
Some ways to participate this month:
— Register at the local Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Regional Office, on RegisterMe.org or on the iPhone Health App.
— Share the “Donate Life” message, by educating others about this generosity.
— Learn more about living donation as another way to offer others a second chance at life.
— And join key celebrations throughout April to support the Donate Life cause, either online or in the community.
Those celebrations:
Blue & Green Spirit Week runs April 6-12, and leads up to National Donate Life Blue & Green Day. It focuses on appreciation, outreach and education, and caps with an invitation to wear colors in support of the mission.
National Pediatric Transplant Week runs April 21-27, and this last full week is dedicated to children waiting on the transplant list.
Thomas further noted that more than 100,000 people are waiting on the national transplant list.
About Donate Life Kentucky:
Founded by the Kentucky Circuit Court Clerks in 1992, Donate Life Kentucky Trust is dedicated to inspiring individuals to register as donors while getting their driver’s license and beyond through other portals to the registry, including online and the Kentucky Online Gateway system.
