Cobleskill Regional Hospital will join the Center for Donation and Transplant in recognizing National Donate Life Month, a month-long celebration held every April that showcases the life-saving benefits of organ and tissue donation and encourages New Yorkers to enroll in the New York State Donate Life Donor Registry.
The hospital will be participating in a number of different events supporting the incredible gifts of life given by donors and raising awareness about the importance of signing up on the New York State Donate Life Registry.
"We are pleased to promote the importance of National Donate Life Month in our hospital this month," Deb Dolan, Regional Marketing and Community Engagement manager at Cobleskill Regional hospital said.
"Donor registration forms were made available to our staff this month, and we participated in the National Wear Blue and Green Day on Friday, April 17.
"This April, we are excited to work with Cobleskill Regional as they support and celebrate the generous gifts given by donors and donor families who said "yes" to donation," Lauren Quinn, director of Hospital and Community Services at the Center for Donation and Transplant said.
"Donation has the potential to save and heal thousands of lives, but it can only happen when New Yorkers get the facts they need and ultimately make the incredible and selfless decision to register as an eye, organ or tissue donor."
More than 10,200 New Yorkers are currently waiting for a life-saving organ transplant, and every 10 minutes, another person is added to the national transplant waiting list.
Despite the urgent need, New York State is ranked as one of the lowest states in the nation when it comes to the number of eligible residents on the New York State Donate Life Registry. Many do not live long enough to receive their life-saving organ or tissue transplant. Those that do receive the call that they've long been waiting for - that a matching, healthy, transplantable organ has been found - are given a second chance at life.
To register as a donor or for more information about how to get involved, please visit the Center for Donation and Transplant's website at www.donatelifecdt.org.