Declare Organ Donor Awareness Month

Assembly Resolution No. 261 BY: M. of A. Palmesano MEMORIALIZING Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to proclaim April 2017, as Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Month in the State of New York, in conjunction with the observance of National Donate Life Month WHEREAS, Organ and tissue transplantation has advanced from an experimental technique to a successful mode of therapy; for many, transplants mean an improvement in the quality of life; for others they mean the difference between life and death; and WHEREAS, Each year the waiting list for organ transplants grows longer; many people die before an organ becomes available; the need for organ donation is real and urgent; and WHEREAS, Nationally, the current waiting list for organs has reached nearly 118,000 individuals and thousands more need tissues; in New York State alone, nearly 10,000 people are waiting for a transplant; more names are added to the waiting list daily and the number of people on the waiting list far exceeds the number of donors; and WHEREAS, To focus attention on the importance of organ and tissue donation and to express gratitude for those who have already given the gift of life, it is the intent of this Legislative Body to memorialize Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to proclaim April 2017 as Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Month in the State of New York, in conjunction with the observance of National Donate Life Month, which incorporates both organ and tissue, as well as other donations; and WHEREAS, Citizens of the State of New York have, for many years, been encouraged to sign up to be an organ, eye, and tissue donor through the New York State Donate Life Registry, a database of individuals who have chosen, upon their death, to donate their organs and tissues, through online registration, when they apply for or renew their driver's license or non-driver identification card, when completing their paper voter registration form, or at various locations and events held throughout the State each year; and WHEREAS, Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Month provides the opportunity to help New Yorkers learn more about organ donation, to help the thousands of patients awaiting transplantations, and to recognize the critical need for organ, eye, tissue, bone marrow, and blood donation; and WHEREAS, Many New Yorkers have set a powerful example, agreeing to become organ and tissue donors and taking selfless action which may potentially save or enhance the lives of others, yet there continues to be a shortage of vitally-needed organs and tissues and the disparity between the number of registered donors and the number of people needing transplants grows each year; a single person donating at the time of their death can help as many as 50 people; and WHEREAS, No one knows when they or a loved one may need a transplant to survive, or tissue to repair injury or treat disease; while there are over 19 million New Yorkers, currently, an estimated 4 million are enrolled in the New York State Donate Life Registry; and WHEREAS, The observance of Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Month provides the opportunity to educate people, to encourage them to consider organ and tissue donation, to add their names to the New York State Donate Life Registry expressing their consent to donate, ensuring that more lives are saved, and to inform their families and friends of their decision; and WHEREAS, Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Month is also a time to recognize and applaud the researchers, medical professionals, advocates and volunteers, past and present, who have contributed so much to the advancement of organ and tissue donation and transplantation and, most particularly, to acknowledge and express our deepest gratitude for the extraordinary generosity and altruistic gifts of deceased and living donors and their families, so that others may have the opportunity to rear a family, hold a job, and pursue a fuller and more active life; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to memorialize Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to proclaim April 2017, as Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Month in the State of New York; and be it further RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted to The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo, Governor of the State of New York; the New York Organ Donor Network; the Long Island Transplant Recipients International Organization; and the New York Alliance for Donation.