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This November, the New York Organ Donor Network invites religious leaders and congregants in our region's houses of worship to CELEBRATE THE MIRACLE OF ORGAN, EYE AND TISSUE DONATION AND TRANSPLANTATION, by launching ORGAN DONOR REGISTRY DRIVES.
Although all major religions support organ, eye and tissue donation, many individuals do not enroll in the New York State Donate Life Registry; likewise, too many families do not consent because they believe incorrectly that their religion does not support donation.
The purpose of National Donor Sabbath, a program which is endorsed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is to raise public awareness about transplantation and the critical need for donated organs, eyes and tissues. Most important, this is the perfect time of the year--as the holiday season approaches--to organize donor registry drives that will restore life and hope in the months and years that lie ahead.
There is a desperate need for organ donors: Of the more than 102,000 people waiting for organ transplants in the United States, around 7,500 of them are in our region--the greater New York metropolitan area:
- Last year, there were just 251 deceased donors in our entire service area.
- Meanwhile, across the nation, as many as 18 people die each day because of the shortage of organ donors
- Every 11 minutes, a new name is added to the national organ transplant waiting list.
We therefore urge all houses of worship to encourage greater understanding about organ, eye and tissue donation, and to help to increase enrollments in the New York State Donate Life Donor Registry.
Whether you are a religious leader or a person of faith who attends your house of worship on a regular basis, your participation in National Donor Sabbath 2009 will demonstrate your support for the patients in the greater New York metropolitan area who are currently awaiting life-saving organ transplants. And please bear in mind that thousands more need eyes or tissue such as bone, skin and heart-valves.
On this Donor Sabbath, we hope you will help to get the word out about donation. We hope that you will help us in our life-saving and most reverent of missions. And the most effective way to do so is to take action, by organizing a New York State Donate Life Registry drive in your house of worship, and in your community.
To find out more about National Donor Sabbath and to order free materials, contact Karen Cummings at 646-291-4454 or e-mail her at kcumming@nyodn.org.
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