Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

PA Lt. Gov. Calls on Pennsylvanians to Become Organ Donors

Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor is hoping that a two-year concentrated effort on organ donation education will help to swell the rolls of organ and tissue donors in the state. The focus of the campaign is that it takes just 30 seconds to register to become an organ donor. 

“In the time it takes you to tie your shoes, you can change your life,” said Lt. Gov. Jim Cawley.  “You can become a hero and become an organ donor. It takes a half minute ... so do it.”

Cawley said the easiest ways to register to be an organ donor is to fill out the form at DonateLifePA.org or to say “yes” when asked if you want to be an organ donor while renewing a driver’s license.

According to the lieutenant governor’s office, 46 percent of registered drivers in the state are also registered organ donors. The goal is to increase that by at least 2 percent, which would result in 200,000 additional names in the database.

At a recent event in Harrisburg, organ transplant recipient Lavern Clark tried to encourage others to make sure the words “organ donor” appear in green under their driver’s licenses picture.

“Because someone said 'yes,' it has given me 10 years,” said Clark, who in those years saw her daughter get married and became a first-time grandmother.

Currently there are 4.4 million Pennsylvanians registered as organ and tissue donors.