Donate Life Month Newsletter Article for Hospitals
Wisconsin Donor Network & Wisconsin Tissue Bank
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 hospital newsletter or Intranet site by inserting your
hospital’s name in the designated areas. To include hospital-specific data, please secure approvals from
both your hospital administration and Wisconsin Donor Network/Wisconsin Tissue Bank. Call Greg
Asmus, Hospital Development Supervisor, at 414-937-6999 for approval.
Saving and improving lives through organ and tissue donation
(Insert Hospital Name] supports National Donate Life Month
“When I grow up, I want to be a race car driver,” says five-year-old Kiefer.
When he’s not at school, energetic Kiefer loves to spend time riding his bike and playing with
his cousins. Kiefer’s parents, Katie and Thomas call him their “walking miracle” thanks to the
success of his liver transplant and the generosity of a donor family.
Each year, countless patients are given a second chance at life through the generous gift of
organ donation. During the month of April – National Donate Life Month – we take the time to
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.
The staff at [INSERT HOSPITAL NAME]is passionate about saving and improving lives every day.
Their compassion and dedication is evident as part of the highly coordinated donation
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process. (INSERT HOSPITAL NAME) partnership with BloodCenter of Wisconsin, home to the
Wisconsin Donor Network and Wisconsin Tissue Bank, provides potential donor families in our
area the opportunity to touch countless lives. Kiefer’s story is just one example.
“When Kiefer was born, we found out after a few weeks that he was born with no bile ducts,”
says Kiefer’s mom, Katie.
“When Kiefer was five weeks old, he had his first surgery where they took his small intestine
and connected it to his liver to form a bile duct. The surgery was effective for a couple of
months, and then when Kiefer was 8 months old, he needed a liver transplant. Being on the
waiting list was very stressful.”
But the news that a donor liver was available for Kiefer came soon thereafter.
“The only thing that I could do at that moment was cry, knowing that someone had made the
decision for their child to donate their liver to Kiefer to keep him alive. I always think about the
generosity of that donor family.”
Patients in need
By adding your name to the registry this April, you can save and extend the lives of countless
patients in need by becoming a donor.
 Nationally, more than 121,000 people are awaiting a life-saving transplant, 2,450 of
those are in Wisconsin.
 An average of 18 people die each day awaiting life saving transplants.
 One tissue donor can enhance the lives of more than 50 people.
 Every year, more than one million Americans receive tissue transplants of bone, heart
valves, tendons, ligaments, corneas and skin.
As the home of the Wisconsin Donor Network and Wisconsin Tissue Bank, BloodCenter of
Wisconsin is dedicated to saving and extending the lives of patients while caring for donor
families. In 2013, the Wisconsin Donor Network helped to facilitate 183 life-saving organ
transplants. Wisconsin Tissue Bank serves 73 hospitals throughout Wisconsin, and we
anticipate more than 25,000 patients will receive the gift of tissue donation from the families
we supported.
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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