The City of Shaker Heights is a Workplace Partner with Lifebanc to encourage education about the need for organ and tissue donation. 

Currently, nearly 85,000 people in the United States are waiting for organ transplants, with more than 1,300 of those individuals right here in Northeast Ohio. Every 13 minutes a new name is added to the national waiting list. At least 17 people will die today because of the organ donor shortage.

Here’s what you can do:

Each time you go to your local BMV to obtain or renew your driver’s license or state ID card, you will be asked, “Do you want to make an anatomical gift?” If you want to join the registry, all you have to do is say, “YES.” Anatomical gift covers donation of organs, eyes and tissue.  It does not include blood, bone marrow or total body donation.

Obtain an informational brochure from LifeBanc. It enables you to join the registry at any time and provides an opportunity to further clarify your donation consent by completing the donor registry enrollment form contained in the brochure, then returning it to the BMV.

Additional resources:

• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
  • News about the National Gift of Life Initiative and Workplace Partnership for Life.
• United Network for Organ Sharing
  • Statistical information regarding organ donation and organ transplantation.
• The Coalition on Donation
  • Sample articles, bulletin announcements, promotional items, general information about organ and tissue donation, and electronic messages.
• www.donevida.org
  • Information about organ and tissue transplantation specific to the Hispanic population. Sponsored by The Coalition on Donation.
• The National Minority Organ Tissue Transplant Education Program (MOTTEP)
  • The first program of its kind designed to educate minority communities on facts about organ and tissue transplantation.