A Partnership for Life

I announced today that in honor of April being National Organ Donor Awareness Month, my office has joined the U.S. Health and Human Services' Workplace Partnership for Life campaign, a nationwide effort to increase the number of organ and tissue donors in the United States and specifically, in the Greater New York metropolitan area.

The goal of this partnership is to educate residents and their families about organ and tissue donation and get them registered.

I am working closely with the NY Organ Donor Network to increase enrollment in the New York State Organ and Tissue Donor Registry and to raise awareness among my constituents. All information is maintained by the State Department of Health to record one's intent to donate and is strictly confidential.

As professionals, we can collectively help to save more lives through organ and tissue donation. Through this cause, we can help 8,000 New Yorkers in the metropolitan area, who are awaiting organ transplants and thousands more, who need tissue transplants. By saying "yes" to donation, you could be giving someone the gift of life.

Organ donation has been a big part of my life. I made a promise that if I ever became a public official I would do everything I could to promote the donation of life and now is my chance. I received a kidney transplant eight years ago when I was a senior in high school, my mother also received a kidney transplant in 1992 from a kidney donated by my father. It is a very real part of my life and I want to educate others about it.

The New York Organ Donor Network and my office will host an informational session regarding organ and tissue donation for the public on Monday evening April 21, 2008 at Harrison Town Hall beginning at 7pm. I will also be co-hosting a blood drive with Harrison EMS Chief Joseph Bilotto on Friday April 25th from 2:30pm-7:30pm at EMS Headquarters. Finally, you can hear me speak about the subject in an interview with WVOX Radio on Thursday, April 3rd from 2pm -3pm. You can listen live at www.WVOX.com or 1460AM on your radio dial.

For more info come to my office at Town Hall and pick up your free brochure or visit my main page at www.HarrisonClerk.com and follow the organ donor links.