This holiday register to be a donor & talk to your family

Today is President's Day in the U.S. and Family Day in Ontario, Canada. As families gather to celebrate these occasions it's a good time to remind everyone to register to be an organ and tissue donor and talk to your family about your wishes. Online links are at the bottom of this post to make it easy to register.

The need for donation is critical as you can see by the following statistics:

In the U.S., the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) says there are 105,686 people waiting for a life-saving organ transplant.

• on the waiting list: 105,686 as of today 6:47am -


• Transplants January - November 2009 26,082 as of 02/05/2010


• Donors January - November 2009 13,327 as of 02/05/2010

There are currently 1639 on the waiting list in Ontario according to
Trillium Gift of Life Network (TGLN) which notes that in 2009, 953 men, women and children received a second chance through living and deceased organ donation. Nearly 3,000 others have an improved quality of life as a result of tissue transplantation. However, today there are still 1,639 people waiting for a life saving transplant. In 2009, 84 people died while on the waiting list for the second chance at life they never got.

There were 1,299 tissue donors in 2009 in Ontario. Tissue donors provided bone grafts, heart valves, and skin for life-enhancing transplants, as well as 1,616 eyes for transplants to restore vision.

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Register to be an organ and tissue donor & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”

Register to be a donor in Ontario or Download Donor Cards from Trillium Gift of Life Network. NEW for Ontario: recycleMe.org - Learn The Ins & Outs Of Organ And Tissue Donation. Register Today! For other Canadian provinces click here

In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov

In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register

In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register

Your generosity can save up to eight lives with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants. One tissue donor can help up to 100 other people by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Has your life been saved by an organ transplant? "Pay it forward" and help spread the word about the need for organ donation - In the U.S. another person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 11 minutes and 18 people die each day waiting for an organ or tissue transplant.