(Suffolk County, NY-April 18, 2016) – Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone has declared the month of April as Organ Donation Awareness Month in Suffolk County. According to the LiveOn NY organization, more than 120,000 people are currently waiting for live saving transplants in the United States
“There is a critical gap between the number of lifesaving organs needed and the number of organs donated in the United States, including here in Suffolk County,” said Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone. “More than 300,000 Suffolk County residents are registered to be organ donors. However, we need to raise that number and strongly encourage our residents who haven’t done so to take the easy steps to become a donor and save a life.”
County Executive Bellone signed the “Donate Life-Organ Donation Awareness Month” legislation into law in April 2015, The legislation was passed unanimously by the Suffolk County Legislature.
In 2015, County Executive Bellone and Suffolk County Legislator Steve Stern hosted Suffolk County resident Christian Siems and his family, along with organ donation awareness advocates and medical professionals at the H. Lee Dennison Building to recognize the critical need for more donations. The next day, Christian received notification of a matching donor and underwent a life saving heart transplant.
Residents can make a difference by signing up to be included on the New York State Donate Life Registry – which can be done by checking off the donor box on driver’s license applications and renewal forms or by downloading the donor registry enrollment form on longliveny.org.
For more information on organ donation awareness, visit www.suffolkcountyny.gov or www.facebook.com/stevebellone.