Organizations to Raise Awareness about the Importance of Organ and Tissue Donation within the Asian and Buddhist Community

(NEW YORK, NY) August 26, 2005-- The New York Organ Donor Network and the Tzu Chi Foundation announced a “Donate Life” partnership at a press conference in Flushing, Queens today.

Speakers included Elaine Berg , president and CEO of The New York Organ Donor Network; George Chang, executive director of the Taiwan Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation U.S.A. Northeast Region; Dr. John C. Wang, director of the Jack J. Dreyfus Renal Clinic, Rogosin Institute; Dr. Daphne Hsu, director of clinical research for the division of pediatric cardiology and director of the pediatric heart failure program at Columbia University. Also in attendance were Maliza Cheng, a Queens resident who donated her husband's cornea; Stephen Tan, a father of three and a liver recipient; and a 6-year-old female heart recipient.

During the press conference, Mr. Chang quoted the words of the Tzu Chi Master Cheng Yen who had this say about organ donation: “The body is a substance. When one dies, one's body can no longer serve its purpose and is either cremated or buried. Those who agree to donate their organs hope to pass their healthy organs on to others so they may continue to function and support the living. Through organ donations, a body that might have been simply cremated or buried will instead benefit and save many lives. Such acts of giving are enormously worthwhile indeed.”

Data: Nearly 90,000 people across the United States are waiting for an organ transplant. In the New York metro area alone there are 8,214 people on the transplant waiting list. Last year in the Greater New York metropolitan area, a total of 308 people consented to their next-of-kin becoming organ donors upon their death: only 12 Asian families or 29% consented to donation, and so the New York Organ Donor Network and The Tzu Chi Foundation hope to increase that number. The overall consent rate in the U.S. is 55%; in 2004 in the Greater New York metropolitan area, the overall consent rate was 47%.

The Tzu Chi Foundation , with offices in over 20 countries, is one of the largest charity organizations originating from Taiwan . For over thirty years, the organization has provided services for those in need worldwide. Nearly all services are provided by foundation member volunteers, who labor with an attitude of love and gratitude towards all people.

Founded in 1978, the New York Organ Donor Network is the second largest of the nation's 58 nonprofit, federally designated organ procurement organizations (OPOs). It is responsible for the recovery of organs and tissues for transplantation, and public and professional education efforts for a culturally and ethnically diverse population of 13 million in the Greater New York metropolitan area. The Donor Network serves Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Staten Island, Long Island, Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, and Westchester, and also Pike County , PA. It works closely with nine transplant centers and more than 100 hospitals in the New York metropolitan area. All hospitals are required by law to notify the Donor Network (their local OPO) of all in-hospital deaths in a timely manner, so that organ and tissue donation can be discussed with families of the deceased.

The Donor Network is a member of the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), which oversees the national transplant waiting list as well as all transplant centers and OPOs in the United States . When organs are donated in the New York metropolitan area, the Donor Network and UNOS match them with one of the approximately 7,000 transplant candidates waiting in the Greater New York metropolitan area, based on donor-recipient blood type, medical urgency, body weight and size, and proximity of recipient to donor. If no appropriate recipient is found locally, the organs are then offered to recipients in different regions.

Media Contact: Martin Woolf at 646-291-4460 or mwoolf@nyodn.org.