DONORS AND THEIR FAMILIES HONORED AT NEW YORK STATE GIFT OF LIFE MEDAL OF HONOR CEREMONY 

1,000 New Yorkers and Elected Officials Gathered in Unprecedented Event to Honor More than 300 Organ, Eye and Tissue Donors

(New York, NY), December 5 th 2004 – More than one thousand New Yorkers gathered in midtown Manhattan today for a special ceremony that was held to honor living and deceased organ, eye and tissue donors and their families as part of the New York State Gift of Life Medal of Honor Program. Senator Charles Schumer, keynote speaker, and CNN Senior Correspondent Richard Roth, kidney transplant recipient and Master of Ceremonies, along with New York State Senator Kemp Hannon , Assemblymen James Conte and Richard Gottfried presented more than 300 Medals of Honor to the donors and donor families.

In 2002, Governor George Pataki signed legislation to establish the New York State Gift of Life Medal of Honor, which recognizes the life-saving contributions of organ and tissue donors. With strong support from New York Senator Kemp Hannon and Assemblymen Sam Hoyt and James Conte, the Governor commissioned a special medal, to recognize the life-saving gifts offered to others from deceased organ, eye and tissue donors and their families, as well as living donors of both organs and tissues.

Assemblyman Jim Conte, who has received two kidney transplants, said, “ I have experienced the miracle of organ donation and understand first hand that donating tissues and organs is truly donating life. I honor all of the donors and donor families here today for their selfless generosity -- it is through that generosity that they have passed on the gift of life."

The event is a tribute to donor families who, at times of profound sadness, put their own needs aside to preserve the value of human life and to living donors who put their own lives at risk to ensure the life of another person, sometimes anonymously, is saved. In this season of giving, it was a poignant display of selfless generosity and humanity. For recipients in attendance it was an emotional celebration of their second chance at life and gratitude for those who made it possible.

Richard Roth said, “I'm living proof that transplants work. As a kidney recipient, I am honored to bring an important message to our celebration. If it weren't for the generosity of my donor, I would not have been spared to see the world and report on it, as I do, for CNN.”

This was the first collaborative effort of 10 different organ, eye and tissue procurement organizations, transplant centers and tissue banks including New York Organ Donor Network, New York Blood Center, Montefiore Medical Center, New York Firefighters Skin Bank, New York University Medical Center, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, St. Luke's and Roosevelt Hospitals, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, The Eye-Bank for Sight Restoration and Westchester Medical Center.

For more information, contact Martin Woolf, 646-291-4460 or mwoolf@nyodn.org .