April is National Donate Life Month and a good reminder to sign up to be an organ donor along with highlighting the significance of organ donation. This is an effort I have supported since joining the NYS Assembly in 2013 and like many issues, is one that continues to grow and evolve but still needs more advocacy and effort. I would like to share a story about that advocacy.

A few months ago, my office had a meeting with New York State Donate Life advocates. The most compelling stories from any advocacy organization are the ones from those who have experienced firsthand the issues that they are urging action on. During this meeting, a mother told the story of her daughter who was a health care worker in her 20s who was working in a hospital in Central New York. The young woman was working during the pandemic to save lives and unexpectedly died suddenly due to an unknown underlying health condition. I cannot do justice to the way this mother told her story and the immeasurable grief that one must have when their child dies was palpable. She knew that her daughter would want to keep saving lives even though hers was inexplicably cut far too short and so she chose to donate her daughter’s organs. This gave her comfort knowing that her daughter was continuing to help others even in her death. She was able to list out each and every life that her daughter had been able to save with these gifts.  To say we where moved is an understatement.

When the COVID-19 pandemic first began last year in March, I donated blood at the Red Cross to encourage people to donate blood during a time when there was a blood shortage and to highlight the safety measures that the Red Cross was undertaking to allow for safe donation.  My point in sharing that is that even the little things like donating blood are making a difference in someone’s life and those efforts should not be taken for granted.

COVID-19 has not only impacted blood donations but has also impacted organ donations.  This shortage of life-saving organs is exacerbated by that fact that  donors who are COVID-19 positive are not candidates for donation if they pass away.  Needless to say, the call for more organ donation volunteers is real which I am sharing as a fellow candidate for organ donation.

You can sign up as an organ donor on the Donate Life website below or through the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles.

Donate Life Website: https://donatelife.ny.gov/

NYS DMV: https://dmv.ny.gov/more-info/register-become-organ-eye-or-tissue-donor

Thank You!