Mayor Pangallo & New England Donor Services join Heart & Organ Recipients to "Get the “Heart” on your Driver’s License/ID

In celebration of April as Organ Donation Month with the theme of “Have a Heart and get a Heart,” Mayor Pangallo will be joined by MA RMV and DPH leadership, New England Donor Services, and individuals touched by organ donation on Wednesday, April 2^nd at 9am in the City Council Chambers to celebrate national (as proclaimed by President Biden) and state (as proclaimed by Governor Healey) Organ Donor Month and ask people to “Have a Heart and get a Heart” by registering as a donor at the RMV when getting or renewing your driver’s license, Real ID, or ID.  Heart recipient Gary Swain will be on hand to thank his donor, and Carol Duelle, a part time employee of Salem Hospital, will honor her infant grandson as a donor.

The vast majority of individuals in Massachusetts who register as organ and tissue donors do so at the state Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV).  The Massachusetts Department of Health has created a campaign to educate people about organ donation and encourage them to register as donors. To register to be a donor and to see MA DPH campaign materials information, visit mass.gov/OrganDonor.

This year’s Donate Life Month comes as New England Door Services has achieved a record number of life-saving deceased donor organ donations and transplants in its New England service area for a third consecutive year. In 2023, 549 deceased donors donated organs resulting in 1,401 life-saving transplants. This record level of clinical activity places NEDS among the nation’s top 4 organ procurement organizations by donor volume. Since 2020, NEDS has increased the annual number of organ donors by 52 percent.

About New England Donor Services: NEDS represents the federally-designated, non-profit Organ Procurement Organizations (OPO) responsible for the surgical recovery of organs and tissues for transplant in Massachusetts and throughout the New England region.  To learn more, visit https://neds.org/.