Shari Mauer

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  • Donate Life America–How You Can Make a Difference

    Posted on February 8th, 2010 Shari 4 comments

    Currently reading: FLASH BURNOUT by L.K. Madigan

    donatelife

    I had a wonderful meeting last week with the people from the New York Organ Donor Network. When thinking about Change of Heart’s launch and the book events that would surround it, I realized it would be amazing if I could promote organ donation registration at the same time.

    The NYODN folks and I came up with several ideas–from having registration forms available at my book events to putting registration info on the back of Change of Heart bookmarks to adding an Author’s Note to the back of the book. Fortunately, my editor was extremely responsive and there was still time to slip the Author’s Note in before the ARCs are printed.

    Today, there are over 106,000 people waiting for organs (including several of my husband’s patients who are waiting for hearts) and an extreme shortage of donors. Please visit the Donate Life America website to learn how you can join the list of donors in your state. In many states, it is not enough to sign the back of your driver’s license; you need to become part of the computer registry.

    It’s horrific to think of losing a loved one or of losing your life. But within that tragedy, there’s some comfort in knowing you can save up to 8 lives. Please register and encourage your family members to register, too.

    You’ll be hearing a lot more about this issue as Change of Heart’s book launch moves closer.

    On a different note, I’ve been reading like crazy lately. Now that it’s 2010, I can start enjoying more books by the Class of 2k10 and The Tenners. Big shout out to Jennifer Hubbard for The Secret Year, Irene Latham for Leaving Gee’s Bend and C. J. Omololu for Dirty Little Secrets. All three were amazing and I can’t recommend them highly enough. If this is an indication of what types of books are coming out this year, it’s going to be an awesome year for readers.

    GeesBendFINALcvrSecretYear.Cvr7dirtylittlesecrets

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    4 responses to “Donate Life America–How You Can Make a Difference” RSS icon

    • Shari, this is a great piece and certainly captures the spirit of “celebrating life” which is what organ donation is all about. Thanks for your support of our special mission!

      Elaine Berg
      President and CEO
      New York Organ Donor Network

    • Thanks, Elaine. I’m really excited about the opportunity to get the word out about organ donation registration. I hope Change of Heart will reach people and show them the importance.

    • Your story about Organ Donation highlighted the tragic shortage of human organs for transplant operations.

      Over 50% of the people on the national transplant waiting list will die before they get a transplant. Most of these deaths are needless. Americans bury or cremate 20,000 transplantable organs every year.

      There is a simple way to put a big dent in the organ shortage – give donated organs first to people who have agreed to donate their own organs when they die.

      Giving organs first to organ donors will convince more people to register as organ donors. It will also make the organ allocation system fairer. People who aren’t willing to share the gift of life should go to the back of the waiting list as long as there is a shortage of organs.

      Anyone who wants to donate their organs to others who have agreed to donate theirs can join LifeSharers. LifeSharers is a non-profit network of organ donors who agree to offer their organs first to other organ donors when they die. Membership is free at http://www.lifesharers.org or by calling 1-888-ORGAN88. There is no age limit, parents can enroll their minor children, and no one is excluded due to any pre-existing medical condition. LifeSharers has over 13,500 members at this writing.

      Please contact me – Dave Undis, Executive Director of LifeSharers – if your readers would like to learn more about our innovative approach to increasing the number of organ donors. I can arrange interviews with some of our local members if you’re interested. My email address is daveundis@lifesharers.org. My phone number is 615-351-8622.

    • Dear Shari,
      Your blog and your book are truly inspirational. I believe these powerful words will move people to take action and enroll on the registry. Thank you for your commitment to organ, eye and tissue donation.

      Julia E. Rivera
      Communications Director
      New York Organ Donor Network
      http://www.savelivesnewyork.org


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