LIHUE — National Donate Life Month recognizes the Legacy of Life Hawaii, Queen’s Transplant Center at the Queen’s Medical Center, the Hawaii Lions Eye Bank, and the volunteers who dedicated their time to promoting public awareness and increasing the number of organ, tissue, and eye donors in that state.
LIHUE — National Donate Life Month recognizes the Legacy of Life Hawaii, Queen’s Transplant Center at the Queen’s Medical Center, the Hawaii Lions Eye Bank, and the volunteers who dedicated their time to promoting public awareness and increasing the number of organ, tissue, and eye donors in that state.
“Normally, we’d be featuring families of individuals who benefited from an organ donor,” said Melissa Kometani of Legacy of Life, who came to Kauai with Shannon Eberhart-Godsdey to accept the proclamation from Mayor Derek S.K. Kawakami. “But due to the weather, we couldn’t get anyone lined up during this trip.”
The month of April is when National Donate Life Month is observed to create awareness of the importance of organ donation, inspire and encourage as many kamaaina in Hawaii to register as organ, eye, and tissue donors, and acknowledge the efforts and good works of those who make successful transplantation possible — especially the donors and their families.
The presentation reminded Kawakami that his driver’s license is about to expire, and registering as a donor is as simple as checking the box on the renewal application.
“Our aloha tradition of caring and compassion for others will help us to continue to increase the number of organ donors in our community and bring hope to those who are waiting for a life-saving transplant,” the proclamation said.
Kawakami was surprised at the number of registered donors when he quizzed bystanders and people passing the presentation.
The proclamation states that more than 250 children and adults in Hawaii are waiting for a life-saving liver, kidney, or pancreas transplant. People of all ages are considered potential organ, eye, and tissue donors, and each organ and tissue donor can save the lives of eight people and restore sight and mobility for up to 75 more.
Registering to be an organ, eye, or tissue donor can be as simple as being indicated on a driver’s license. Knowing the Division of Motor Vehicles staff were closed for training, Kawakami invited the Legacy of Life people to help the DMV staff expedite that part of the driver’s license renewal process.
Both Kometani and Eberhart-Godsey, who were working on their laptops while waiting for the mayor, quickly adjourned to their cars to return with cartons of information for the DMV and its customers.
