Gift of Life Michigan and its partners are celebrating a new specialty license plate and fund that promote organ, eye and tissue donation. Lt .Gov. Brian Calley signed the bill today giving the new plate and the fund final approval.

Gift of Life Michigan and its partners are celebrating a new specialty license plate and fund that promote organ, eye and tissue donation. Lt .Gov. Brian Calley signed the bill today giving the new plate and the fund final approval.

Colleges and universities across Michigan motivated more than 3,400 residents to join the Michigan Organ Donor Registry during the 2012 Campus Challenge. Wayne State registered the most with 1,133; Calvin College signed up the highest percentage of student population with just over 5 percent. > details

      A record number of people joined the Michigan Organ Donor Registry in 2011, Gift of Life Michigan has announced. A total of 398,000 registered last year to someday donate their organs, eyes and tissue. That’s a 25 percent increase from the 320,000 who signed up in 2010. The Donor Registry now holds 2.4 million names.

 Six months after Secretary of State Ruth Johnson launched her new campaign to sign up more organ donors, including a new policy directing branch office employees to ask customers if they would like to join the state's organ donor registry, the number of signups is soaring.

     Gift of Life Michigan and its partners presented Secretary of State Ruth Johnson with an award Thursday at the Capitol, recognizing her ground-breaking efforts to help grow the Michigan Organ Donor Registry.
      > details

Gift of Life and Michigan Eye-Bank applaud new initiatives to boost the Michigan Organ Donor Registry

Secretary of State changes will help save and improve more lives

Ann Arbor (April 19, 2011) – Gift of Life Michigan and the Michigan Eye-Bank are applauding changes implemented by Secretary of State Ruth Johnson and her administration to increase the number of Michigan residents on the state’s Donor Registry.

The most important initiative is a new policy that directs Secretary of State employees, when time permits, to ask customers if they would like to join the donor registry. Before, it was usually up to customers to tell the clerk they wanted to join the Donor Registry. Other changes range from putting donation information on common customer forms to a new driver’s license that eliminates confusion about recording the decision to be a donor.

The changes coincide with a national report that Michigan ranks 45^th among other states in the percentage of adults who are registered donors.

“This new policy and Secretary Johnson’s efforts will save more lives.” said Richard Pietroski, CEO of Gift of Life Michigan, the state’s federally designated organ and tissue organization. “Secretary Johnson has set the tone that Michigan will no longer tolerate being below the national average.”

Lisa Langley, executive director for the Michigan Eye-Bank, added: “We are thrilled with Secretary Johnson’s leadership. Every initiative to get more people to join the Donor Registry gives renewed hope to the people who are waiting for these precious gifts. Through our partnership with Secretary Johnson and the Department of State, we can help restore sight to more people every year.”

Nearly 3,000 people in Michigan are on the waiting list for a life-saving organ transplant. Thousands more are in need of cornea and tissue transplants to help them regain sight and mobility. Among the Secretary of State improvements and initiatives:

·         The new policy for clerks to ask customers about joining the donor registry, when time permits. Secretary Johnson noted that previously there was not a consistent policy from office to office or even employee to employee about asking the question.

·         Organ donation reminders are being added to some of the most widely distributed forms and applications at Secretary of State offices.

·         Secretary Johnson has convened an advisory committee to discuss ways to develop innovative, yet cost-effective, approaches to promote organ, tissue and cornea donation.

·         The newly designed driver’s license eliminates a misleading area on the back of the license for a signature; people once and for all will understand they need a heart emblem on the front of the license to indicate they are on the Donor Registry.

·         Secretary Johnson is promoting national Donate Life Month (April) by holding three separate press conferences around the state and through innovative methods such as daily “tweets” and Facebook posts.

The efforts should help Michigan improve its standing among other states in the percentage of adults on the Donor Registry. A new report released today by Donate Life America (donatelife.net) shows that 27 percent of Michigan adults were on the registry as of December 31, 2010. The national average is 40 percent, and Michigan’s figure puts it 45th out of the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

“Michigan’s citizens are no less giving than those in other states,” Gift of Life’s Pietroski said. “With these improvements, more citizens will have an easier, more efficient way to document that generosity.”