Celebrating Donate Life Month

The past month has been a spe­cial one for us at Iowa Donor Net­work as we observed Nation­al Donate Life Month. Dur­ing April, we part­nered with health­care agen­cies, DMVs, com­mu­ni­ty part­ners, and dona­tion advo­cates, all unit­ed by the com­mon goal to save and heal lives. This ini­tia­tive encour­ages more Iowans to reg­is­ter as organ, tis­sue, and eye donors, while also rais­ing aware­ness about the need for donors and hon­or­ing those who have giv­en the gift of life.

Through our part­ner­ships with health­care agen­cies, DMVs, com­mu­ni­ty part­ners, and dona­tion advo­cates we ampli­fy our reach, edu­cat­ing and inspir­ing com­mu­ni­ties across Iowa about the impor­tance of dona­tion. Our col­lec­tive efforts reflect our mis­sion of work­ing togeth­er to trans­form lives through the gift of organ and tis­sue dona­tion, spark­ing con­ver­sa­tions and actions that pro­mote our vision that all are inspired to donate life.

High­light­ing Com­mu­ni­ty Engagement

Through­out Donate Life Month, we facil­i­tate a vari­ety of events that pro­mote dona­tion and bring our com­mu­ni­ties togeth­er. Flag-rais­ing cer­e­monies were held at a num­ber of our part­ner hos­pi­tals, includ­ing Uni­ty­Point Health — St. Luke’s in Sioux City, Floyd Coun­ty Med­ical Cen­ter in Charles City, Gen­e­sis Med­ical Cen­ter in Dav­en­port, Uni­ty­Point Health — Allen in Water­loo, Uni­ty­Point Health — St. Luke’s in Cedar Rapids, Mer­cy­One Cedar Falls, Gut­ten­berg Munic­i­pal Hos­pi­tal, Uni­ver­si­ty of Iowa Hos­pi­tal and Clin­ics in Iowa City, among oth­ers. The Donate Life flag sym­bol­izes hope, uni­ty, and remem­brance, help­ing us raise aware­ness and hon­or those impact­ed by donation.

Our part­ners at the Iowa City VA, South­east Iowa Region­al Med­ical Cen­ter – West Burling­ton, Jef­fer­son Coun­ty Health Cen­ter, and Region­al Health Ser­vices of Howard Coun­ty dec­o­rat­ed their facil­i­ties in Donate Life blue and green. These dis­plays ampli­fy the vis­i­bil­i­ty of Donate Life Month, help­ing us spark con­ver­sa­tions about the impor­tance of donation.

At the Impact Life head­quar­ters in Dav­en­port, we held a cer­e­mo­ny that high­light­ed the role of blood trans­fu­sions in trans­plant surg­eries. In Altoona, our vol­un­teers par­tic­i­pat­ed in a rock paint­ing day, dec­o­rat­ing rocks with the Donate Life sym­bol and mes­sages of hope about what Donate Life means to us.

Thank you to all our part­ners across Iowa who joined us in cel­e­brat­ing Donate Life Month.

DMV and DOT Initiatives 

This April 84 DMVs across Iowa dec­o­rat­ed their offices in sup­port of Nation­al Donate Life Month. Their dec­o­ra­tions reflect this year’s theme ​“Donors are Super­stars” and help to inspire more cus­tomers to say ​“YES” to dona­tion when get­ting their license. Our part­ner­ship with the Iowa DOT and DMVs across Iowa is cru­cial because 97% of Iowans reg­is­ter as organ, tis­sue, and eye donors while at the DMV. Check out how some of our part­ners at DOTs and DMVs across the state dec­o­rat­ed their offices to cel­e­brate Donate Life Month and advo­cate for our mission.

On April 26^th, the Iowa Depart­ment of Trans­porta­tion (DOT) sup­port­ed our mis­sion by dis­play­ing ​“Be an Organ Donor” on high­way signs across the state.

Mov­ing Forward

As we come to the end of anoth­er suc­cess­ful Donate Life Month, we are grate­ful to every­one who sup­port­ed us dur­ing April. Whether you raised the Donate Life flag, dec­o­rat­ed for Blue and Green Day, or vol­un­teered with us, thank you! We look for­ward to build­ing on the enthu­si­asm and com­mit­ment we’ve seen this April, and encour­age every­one to stay engaged, whether by reg­is­ter­ing as a donor, par­tic­i­pat­ing in our events such as the upcom­ing Give Life 5K, or even shar­ing your dona­tion deci­sion with friends and family.

For more infor­ma­tion on how you can get involved or to reg­is­ter as a donor, see below.