New York, NY, July 26, 2007: The New York Organ Donor Network, the federally designated nonprofit organization serving 13 million people in the greater New York metropolitan area, is urging all New Yorkers of color to enroll in the New York State Organ and Tissue Donor Registry on Minority Awareness Day (Thursday, August 1, 2007). The urgent appeal is being carried out as part of a national initiative to increase the number of organ donor enrollments in the nation's various registries to 100 million by April next year, coinciding with National Donate Life Month.

Of the nearly 7,000 people waiting for organ transplants in the greater New York metropolitan area, approximately 4,300 are people of color.

The New York State Organ and Tissue Donor Registry is a confidential database administered by the state's department of health. The registry can only be accessed by employees of the state's four organ procurement organizations at the time of possible organ, eye and tissue donation. More than 1.2 million names are already entered into New York State's donor registry, but this is out of a total population of nearly 20 million. New York’s registry is underperforming in comparison to most of the nation’s other donor registries.

On Minority Awareness Day, the Donor Network asks that New Yorkers of color make the most of the 24 hours by enrolling online in the NYS Donor Registry at www.donatelifeny.org. When they do so, they will receive written confirmation of their enrollment.