Donate Life America Working to Increase Donor Registration, Educate about Living Donation and Help End Waiting List Deaths

RICHMOND, VA., June 13, 2016 -- Donate Life America will participate in today's White House Organ Summit, to present its innovative commitments for initiatives designed to increase donor registrations, promote the National Donate Life Registry, educate the public about living donation and help end waiting list deaths.

• Walgreens and Donate Life America will use targeted communications to Walgreens pharmacy customers throughout 2016 to encourage organ donation registration via the National Donate Life Registry, RegisterMe.org.
• Donate Life America (DLA), in partnership with advertising agency Leo Burnett, will launch a social media campaign in the summer of 2016 to target populations that have typically been less likely to register as organ donors.
• In June 2016, DLA, working with Ogilvy & Mather and Instagram, will launch an update to its "Give Me a Heart" social media donor registration campaign. Through this campaign, DLA will try to drive online registrations throughout the year by adding new stories of patients who have received transplants and others who are waiting for transplant.
• The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) and the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, the nation's first pediatric transplant program, commits with Donate Life America to pioneer innovative outreach via social media to increase the availability of living donor organs with the goal of minimizing transplant waiting list mortality for all patients with an emphasis on eradicating pediatric waiting list mortality. This effort will target education to patients and their families, integrating social media experiences to better prepare those waiting about the immediate lifesaving opportunities available through living donation. Tools will be shared with the broader transplant community via social media, Donate Life America communications, national webinars and meetings.

"Donate Life America is pleased to see the White House highlighting best practices for increasing donation and transplantation," said David Fleming, president and chief executive officer of Donate Life America. "Hopefully this is a step towards our culture recognizing the severity of this health crisis. Continuing to develop innovative initiatives with national partners is vital to saving more lives."

Today, more than 120,000 people are in need of a lifesaving organ transplant. Last year, there were only 9,000 deceased donors and 6,000 living donors in the U.S. More than 4,000 people died in 2015 waiting for a new kidney, and 3,600 were taken off the waiting list because they became too sick for a transplant. Although 90 percent of Americans say they support organ donation, only 52 percent are registered donors and the majority of Americans are at the beginning of understanding the option and benefits of living donation.

The White House Organ Summit will take place today at 10:30 a.m. EDT, and will be webcast live at www.whitehouse.gov/live. During the Summit, the Administration and private entities will announce a new set of actions to improve donor registration, outcomes for individuals waiting for organ transplants and support for living donors.
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About Donate Life America
Donate Life America is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit alliance of national organizations and Donate Life State Teams across the United States committed to increasing the number of donated organs, eyes and tissue available to save and heal lives. Donate Life America manages and promotes the national brand for donation, Donate LifeSM; manages the National Donate Life Registry, RegisterMe.org; develops and executes effective multi-media donor education programs; motivates the American public to register now as organ, eye and tissue donors; and assists Donate Life State Teams and national partners in facilitating high-performing donor registries. For more information, please visit DonateLife.net.

CONTACT: Donate Life America
         Hilary Czarda
         Sr. Communications and Data Coordinator
         804-377-3584
         [email protected]