Two Million Californians Say 'Yes!' to Organ and Tissu...( Statewide Donate Life California Or...),Health

Statewide Donate Life California Organ & Tissue Donor Registry Reaches 2

Million Registrations

Minorities and Older Residents Less Likely to Register

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Oct. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- More than two million Californians have signed up to become organ and/or tissue donors on the state's Donate Life California Organ & Tissue Donor Registry, doubling the state's number of designated donors in only eight months. The ongoing surge in registrations is due predominantly to the ability of Californians to sign up as donors at the same time they apply for or renew drivers licenses or I.D. cards at the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) through a program that began July 1, 2006.

"As a result of our partnership with the DMV, each week approximately 30,000 DMV customers are checking 'Yes' on their DMV forms to register as organ and tissue donors," stated Bryan Stewart, president of Donate Life California, the non-profit organization created in 2004 to administer the state-authorized donor registry. "In doing so, they are helping the more than 20,000 fellow Californians who are waiting for a life-saving organ transplant, and many more who rely on the gift of donated tissue to restore sight, heal burns and regain mobility."

According to George Valverde, director of the DMV, "We are proud that this partnership is truly making a difference and saving lives. Through our involvement in this effort, we've also come to know how the lives of employees in our own DMV family have been touched by organ donation. Some have donated organs to loved ones, received transplants themselves or are still in need of life-saving donations. We are heartened to know the DMV's enrollment of designated donors gives hope to those whose lives hang in the balance."

Tragically, one-third of the nearly 100,000 Americans currently waiting for life-saving organ transplants could die due to a shortage of donors. The shortage of organs
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