LiveOnNY Celebrates National Donate Life Month With 30 Days of Digital and Virtual Events to Celebrate the Power of Organ, Eye and Tissue Donation

New York, NY (April 1, 2021) – As the New York metro area continues to fight the COVID-19 virus, April marks National Donate Life Month, an initiative that highlights the lifesaving and life-healing power of organ, eye and tissue donation; encourages others to give the gift of life through donation; and honors the selfless donors who gave life through a final act of kindness and generosity. The month-long celebration will be hosted by LiveOnNY, the nonprofit organization that facilitates organ, eye and tissue donation in the greater New York City area and inspires New Yorkers to sign up as lifesaving organ donors. Due to the pandemic, activities will be largely virtual and feature inspirational online stories and social media messages about this important cause alongside a handful of small, masked and socially distanced outdoor advocacy events. For the fourth straight year, Donate Life Month will culminate in an online, region-wide Moment of Gratitude for organ donors and their families.


“Throughout the pandemic, the need for lifesaving organ, eye and tissue donation did not stop and our team continued its twenty-four-hour, seven-day-a-week operation to save lives,” said LiveOnNY President and CEO Helen Irving. “This Donate Life Month, we all come together to express our gratitude to the organ donors who saved lives through organ donation during a particularly trying time, and to advocate for the nearly 10,000 New Yorkers currently waiting for a lifesaving organ transplant.”


Hospitals, transplant centers, faith leaders, elected officials and community organizations will be partnering with LiveOnNY to raise awareness for this important cause. All New Yorkers near and far can also participate in Donate Life Month by sharing messaging from LiveOnNY’s digital platforms throughout April. Each week, LiveOnNY will post a new blog about the power of organ donation. Additionally, LiveOnNY’s social media channels will feature Donate Life Month messaging and inspirational stories throughout the month. New Yorkers are also encouraged to talk with their loved ones about their wish to donate and why it’s important to them.


“Because of my organ donor, I have been able to help thousands and thousands of patients over the last 14 years,” said kidney recipient and neurologist Dr. Philippe Douyon, who will be virtually participating in Donate Life Month. “Organ donation is remarkable. An organ donor is giving a person a chance to live their life. It is heroic.”


In addition to digital outreach, LiveOnNY and its partners will host several small, masked and socially distanced outdoor events, including:

  1. An April 1 flag raising hosted by Huntington Township on Long Island to honor organ donors and their families.
  2. An April 16 flag raising with Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano at St. John’s Riverside Hospital in recognition of all those who chose to give the gift of life.
  3. A mid-April flag raising at Brooklyn Borough Hall in honor of organ donors and a face mask giveaway with Deputy Brooklyn BP Ingrid Martin-Lewis.

    Donate Life Month will once again close with a Moment of Gratitude in recognition of all the selfless organ and tissue donors and their families. LiveOnNY is asking all New Yorkers to pause for a moment on April 30, to pay tribute to the thousands of selfless donors who gave the gift of life. Hospitals, transplant centers, organ donation advocates, and others across the area will join in to recognize these lifesaving heroes. LiveOnNY will post its moment of gratitude ceremony on Facebook at 10 a.m. For more information on LiveOnNY, visit www.LiveOnNY.org. To follow along on social media, please visit @LiveOnNewYork on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter.


ABOUT LIVEONNY:


LiveOnNY is a nonprofit, federally designated organ procurement organization (OPO) dedicated to saving lives, providing comfort, and strengthening legacies through organ, eye, and tissue donation. The OPO, which was established in 1978, serves a culturally and ethnically diverse population of 13 million residents in New York City, Long Island and the lower Hudson Valley. Working closely with transplant centers and hospitals, LiveOnNY coordinates organ, eye, and tissue donation for transplant, educates the public and healthcare professionals about donation and transplantation, and promotes the importance of signing up on the New York State Donate Life Registry. LiveOnNY works closely with 11 transplant centers, nearly 100 hospitals, and several tissue and eye banks. LiveOnNY is accredited by the Association of Organ Procurement Organizations (AOPO) and a member of the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), which oversees the organ transplant waiting list in the U.S. For more information, please visit LiveOnNY.org.


FOR MORE INFORMATION:

LiveOnNY Inquiries:

Ali McSherry, amcsherry@liveonny.org

Media Inquiries:

Josh Knoller, josh@nicholaslence.com