Donate Life Month 2014
Newsletter Article – Option #1
Thank you for supporting April as Donate Life Month. As part of this national effort, we offer
the article below. We invite you to customize it for your organization’s newsletter or Intranet
site by inserting the relevant information in the designated areas.
Saving and improving lives through tissue donation
(Insert organization name] supports National Donate Life Month
“Riley could light up a room – he had big brown eyes that, the moment you saw them you had
to fall in love with him,” says Riley’s dad, Grady of Milwaukee.
Riley was born prematurely and weighed just one pound, six ounces. He was not expected to
survive, but little Riley was a fighter. He spent his first six months of life in the hospital, and
celebrated his first birthday at home. But, Riley did not have the strength to continue his fight,
and died a few weeks later. That’s when his parents made the decision to donate Riley’s heart
valves – a tissue donation – so other children might be given a chance at life.
“It made me feel better to know that my son was going to live not only in my memory, but in
other children,” Grady said.
Riley’s dad, Grady
Each year, the lives of countless patients are saved and improved through the generous gift of
tissue donation. During the month of April – National Donate Life Month – we take the time to
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raise awareness for organ, tissue and eye donation and the life-saving impact of those generous
gifts, as well as celebrate those that have saved lives through the gift of donation.
[Organization Name] is passionate about saving and improving lives every day.
[Organization Name] partner’s with BloodCenter of Wisconsin, home to the Wisconsin Donor
Network and Wisconsin Tissue Bank, to provide potential donor families in our area the
opportunity to touch countless lives. Riley’s story is just one example.
For those considering donation, Grady sends this message, “Don’t even give it a second
thought. Just go ahead and do it. You’ll be rewarded knowing that you’re responsible for
helping people and saving lives.”
Grady hopes to meet the recipient of Riley’s donation some day. “I would tell them that they
are truly blessed with the best thing that they could ever have, and it’s also the best thing I ever
had. So take care of it the best you can.”
Many patients in need
BloodCenter of Wisconsin’s Wisconsin Tissue Bank serves 73 hospitals throughout the state.
In 2013, it supported 461 families who gave the gift of tissue donation. More than 25,000
patients last year received tissue through BloodCenter of Wisconsin as a result of donor gifts.
You can save and extend the lives of countless patients in need by becoming a donor.
 One tissue donor can enhance the lives of more than 50 recipients.
 1 in 20 people will need a tissue transplant in their lifetime.
 More than 121,000 people in the United States and more than 2,450 people in
Wisconsin are awaiting a life-saving organ transplant.
 Eighteen people nationally die each day awaiting a transplant.
Visit www.bcw.edu/sharinglife for more information and share your wishes with your family. As
always, BloodCenter of Wisconsin also encourages you to donate the generous gift of blood, as
well as join the Be the Match Marrow Donor Registry. Wisconsin launched its own state donor
registry in 2010, so it’s important to visit our website if you haven’t registered or renewed your
commitment since then, even if you have a donor dot on your driver’s license. You never know
how many lives you could touch.
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