New Yorkers Once Again Come Together to Save Lives on the Fifth Annual Organ Donor Enrollment Day, Thursday October

New York, NY (October 10, 2019) – On October 10, New Yorkers across the state will come together to register as many organ donors as possible in celebration of the fifth annual Organ Donor Enrollment Day. Organ Donor Enrollment Day, powered by LiveOnNY, brings individuals and organizations together to spend one day focused solely on educating and enrolling people to save the lives of the approximately 113,000 Americans – nearly 10,000 of whom live in New York – currently waiting for a life-saving transplant.

Every 18 hours, a New Yorker dies waiting for an organ transplant. A contributing factor to this statistic is that there are simply not enough residents registered as organ donors. Thirty-five percent of New Yorkers are registered as organ donors compared to 58% nationally. Organ Donor Enrollment Day aims to change that by sending hundreds of volunteers out into the community to urge their neighbors to make their support for organ donation known and register to save a life.

Organ Donor Enrollment Day is deeply personal for the hundreds of volunteers who participate. Among the volunteers include donor mother Judy Armijo, who will be using Organ Donor Enrollment Day to celebrate and honor the legacy of her late daughter, Alexandra, who donated and saved lives. Another volunteer is liver recipient Bill O’Hagan, who will be out registering as many organ donors as possible so that others will get the same second chance at life that he received. 

“Organ Donor Enrollment Day is about taking action and registering as many New Yorkers as possible to save lives,” said LiveOnNY President and CEO Helen Irving. “We hope this day will inspire people to learn more about the power of organ donation and to have conversations about their end of life wishes. I know everyone’s efforts on Organ Donor Enrollment Day go a long way toward bringing hope to the nearly 10,000 New Yorkers currently waiting for a lifesaving transplant.”

Organ Donor Enrollment Day brings much needed attention to the power of organ, eye and tissue donation. There will be dozens of activities and events taking place across the region, including:

• City of Yonkers, NY – Press conference held by the City of Yonkers with Mayor Spano and featuring donor mother Carmen Hanchard. 
• Mount Kisco, NY - Northern Westchester Hospital event honoring hospital CEO Joel Seligman featuring Mayor Picinich, Assemblyman Buchwald and families that have been directly impacted by organ donation. 
• NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn – Registration event with local heart recipient Stephen Feldheim.
• NYU Winthrop Hospital – Flag raising featuring a local organ recipient followed by a registration event. 

Additionally, many area transplant centers and hospitals will be participating in Organ Donor Enrollment Day with various local activations. For more information about Organ Donor Enrollment Day, please visit LongLiveNY.org and follow LiveOnNY on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram using #DonorDay2019. 

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, 212-938-0836

Alana Kiss, 212-938-0835