Starting this summer, Michigan motorists will be able to purchase a specialty fund-raising license plate that will support organ donation efforts across the state.
The organ and tissue recovery organization Gift of Life is celebrating the passage of legislation authorizing the plate, which Lt. Gov. Brian Calley will sign in Lansing this afternoon. Proceeds from the plate will promote organ, tissue and eye donation and the Michigan Organ Donor Registry.
The license plate, which will bear the Gift of Life logo, will be available after June 30 for $35 above the standard cost of a Michigan plate. Of that, $10 will go to the new Thomas Daley Gift of Life Fund, named for the son of State Rep. Kevin Daley (R-Lum). Thomas Daley died last year at 23 following a tree-cutting accident, and his organs helped save the lives of four critically ill patients in Michigan.
The law's passage was a bipartisan effort. The bill was sponsored by and is named for State Sen. John Gleason (D-Flushing), who received a kidney from his sister in 2001, and received the support of Secretary of State Ruth Johnson.
"I am deeply humbled and honored that my colleagues chose to name this act after me. There is no gift more precious than organ donation,” Gleason said in a statement last month. “There are more than 100,000 people in the United States waiting for an organ. I hope the creation of this plate and fund will help to educate the public and save more lives."
"I am deeply humbled and honored that my colleagues chose to name this act after me. There is no gift more precious than organ donation,” Gleason said in a statement last month. “There are more than 100,000 people in the United States waiting for an organ. I hope the creation of this plate and fund will help to educate the public and save more lives."
In a statement, Gift of Life CEO Richard Pietroski said, “With 3,000 people waiting in this state today for an organ transplant, we are hoping this new license plate will serve as one more reminder in Michigan that giving new life, new sight and new mobility is as selfless as it gets. We can’t wait to see these plates on the road.”
“You Have the Power to Donate Life – to become an organ and tissue donor Sign-up today!
Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”
Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”
Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register
New Zealand, register at Organ Donation New Zealand
South Africa, http://www.odf.org.za/
United States, donatelife.net
United Kingdom, register at NHS Organ Donor Register
Your generosity can save or enhance the lives of up to fifty people with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants (see allotransplantation). One tissue donor can help 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. Organs can save lives, corneas renew vision, and tissue may help to restore someone's ability to walk, run or move freely without pain. Life Begins with You.
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