April is National Donate Life month

April is National Donate Life month

Every day in April, people throughout the United States make a special effort to celebrate the tremendous generosity of those who have saved lives by becoming organ, eye, tissue, bone marrow, and blood donors while also encouraging more Americans to follow their fine example.

Morgan County Coroner Marcy Patterson and the Gift of Hope have teamed up to encourage those in the community to take time this month to sign up to become an organ and tissue donor.

Presently, the wait to get a kidney donated is 4-7 years. In Morgan County, we want to do our part to increase the number of donors. At this time, 64% of Morgan County is registered to be organ and tissue donors. It is our goal to add 500 people to this list.

First-Person Consent (signing up on the registry) makes the decision to be an organ/tissue donor legally binding, meaning the wishes of the donor will be honored.

This week, we hope you enjoy the stories of local people we have met that have given or received the gift of life through organ and tissue donation.

How to register to be an Organ Donor

• Stop in The Source office, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m., Monday through Thursday and we will assist you in signing into the website.

• Join the Rooted Study Group at First Christian Church (2106 S Main St, Jacksonville, Illinois) on Saturday, April 17, from 10 a.m. – noon. The first 100 people to sign up will receive a free t-shirt.

• Go online – www.registerMe.org/MorganCounty.

For more information, contact Marcy Patterson at 217-243-3857.

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