Every minute counts for more than 5,000 children and adults waiting for a life-saving organ transplant in the Coal Region, Poconos and across this area, according to Gift of Life Donor Program.

Gift of Life, the organ and tissue donor program for our community, is working to give each person on the waitlist a second chance at life and invites everyone to join in celebrating the power of donation this April, which is National Donate Life Month. This year’s theme, “Make a Splash,” was inspired by the natural world of a pond coming to life in the spring – a time of renewal and hope.

The impact just one donor can make is extraordinary. One organ donor can save up to eight lives and a tissue donor can transform the lives of more than 100 people through gifts of corneas, skin, bone, veins, ligaments, and heart valves.

Here are five ways to take part in National Donate Life Month:

1 Register as a donor: Visit donors1.org to sign up today. It takes less than a minute. Anyone can be a potential donor regardless of age or medical history.

2. Share your decision: Tell your family and friends about your life-saving decision and encourage them to sign up.

3. Learn more: Explore donors1.org to discover facts versus myths about donation.

4. Connect on social media: Read and share inspiring stories about donors and transplant recipients from our community by following Gift of Life (@donors1) on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

5. Help make history: The Gift of Life region has been the most generous for organ and tissue donation in the United States for a remarkable 15 years in a row and set a record for the most kidney transplants in U.S. history in 2022. Selfless donors and their compassionate families have saved thousands of lives with support from healthcare heroes in the 126 acute care hospitals and 13 transplant centers that Gift of Life works with.

Gift of Life Donor Program is the non-profit, federally designated organ procurement organization serving 11.3 million people in the eastern half of Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware. Since 1974, Gift of Life has coordinated more than 58,000 life-saving organs for transplant, and more than two million tissue transplants have resulted from the generosity of donors and their families.