Currently, 52 percent of the U.S. adult population has registered as a donor, including nearly five million in North Carolina.

For more than a decade, the month of April has been about saving and healing lives. Each year LifeShare joins the rest of the country in sharing the lifesaving message of donation and transplantation. The goal of National Donate Life Month is to make life possible by educating and motivating the public to register their decision to be organ, eye, and tissue donors.

Each Donate Life Month features unique art work that helps tell the story of donation. The art for 2016 National Donate Life Month (NDLM) is inspired by sunflowers. One sunflower has the potential to create an entirely new field of flowers. As individuals we each have a similar potential – to make life possible. One organ donor can save the lives of up to eight people, restore sight to two individuals through cornea donation and to heal countless others through tissue donation.

Currently, 52 percent of the U.S. adult population has registered as a donor, including nearly five million in North Carolina. Meanwhile, the number of people in need of transplants continues to outpace the number of organs donated. Over 121,000 people are awaiting a transplant. On an average day, 22 people die because the organ they need is not donated in time.

Registering as a donor in North Carolina is easy. You can register at the DMV when getting a driver’s license or state issued ID card. You can also register online at www.donatelifenc.org/register.

In addition to facilitating organ transplants, LifeShare also operates an eye bank and recovers tissue for transplant. For additional information, visit www.lifesharecarolinas.org.

-Submitted by Ben Martin