LifeLink Foundation honors organ donors

TAMPA, Fla. - Two thousand three hundred luminaries surrounded the LifeLink Foundation near the Selmon Expressway and US-301 to commemorate "blue and green day," which was on April 14th to honor organ donors, recipients, and their families.

Local businesses in several cities, such as Tampa, lit buildings up in blue and green for the special day.

Each luminaria/luminarie at the LifeLink Foundation building represented recent organ donors in Florida, Georgia, and Puerto Rico.

Lifelink honors organ donors

"In the United States, we have over 103,000 people that are currently waiting for transplants, around 4900 of those are in our state of Florida, and not everybody is going to get a transplant, roughly 17 people pass away every day, so the need for organ donation is really strong," said Ashley Moore with the LifeLink Foundation.

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An organ donor has the potential to save up to eight lives, and tissue donation could help up to 75 people, according to LifeLink.

"You have to look at it like you’re not just saving the life of that one person, you’re saving that family and friends who may depend on that person," said Moore. "They’re able to maybe go back to work, go back to school, and be a contributing member to their community."

Lifelink shows there appreciation for organ donors

The LifeLink Foundation says more than 21,000 people across the US became organ donors last year, which helped facilitate a record 42,000 transplants.

The foundation says there are some common misconceptions about becoming a donor.

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"Some people think they are too old, but there’s no age limit to donation. Some people worry that they have a health condition that would prevent them from registering, but there’s nothing that prevents you from signing up to say yes to donation," Moore said.

LifeLink is stressing how easy it is to become a donor if you aren’t one already. You can do it when you obtain or renew a driver’s license or register by clicking here.