Be An Organ/Tissue Donor...It`s The Gift of Life...

Subject: Wisconsin Leading Country in Organ Donation...

Wisconsin Governor Doyle Announces Wisconsin Leading Country in Organ Donation Mon, 08/06/2007 - 15:37 — admin August 03, 2007-- MADISON – Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle today announced that Wisconsin is leading the country in organ donation. In 2006 alone, 767 organ transplants were completed in Wisconsin. The Governor made the announcement during the 14th annual Gift of Life Medal Ceremony to honor families whose departed loved ones donated their organs. The Wisconsin conversion rate is 83 percent, according to the Health Resources and Services Administration. The conversion rate denotes the number of times organ transplants occur out of all cases in which transplants are possible. The national conversion rate is 63 percent. “I’m proud that Wisconsin is leading the country in organ donation,” Governor Doyle said. “Demand for organ donation increases minute by minute, and the choices made by loved ones to share the gift of life can have a life-altering effect on recipients and their families. We must remain committed to raising awareness about the importance of organ donation and ensuring that people’s wishes are known to their loved ones.” For the last 14 years, Wisconsin Governor’s have hosted the Gift of Life Medal Ceremony to give transplant recipients the opportunity to express their appreciation to organ donor families and encourage even more of Wisconsin’s citizens to sign their drivers’ license and indicate their willingness to become organ and tissue donors. In January 2004, Governor Doyle enacted Wisconsin Act 119. This legislation provides an income tax deduction of up to $10,000 in travel and lodging expenses or lost wages of a person who donates one or more of his or her organs as a living donor. Wisconsin became the first state in the nation to have a law to help individuals and their families offset the costs of organ donation. Nationwide, nearly 100,000 men, women and children are currently in need of life saving organ transplants and every 13 minutes another name is added to the waiting list. The obstacle most frequently preventing patients from benefiting from organ transplantation continues to be the availability of suitable organs. In Wisconsin, more than 50 percent of drivers and ID card holders are recorded as potential donors – an increase of 4 percent since 2004. In 2007 there have already been 52 donors in Wisconsin, but there are currently over 1,424 people on the waiting list for an organ transplant. Source: Wisconsin Governor

"Give The Gift of Life, Be an Organ/Tissue Donor, It`s the Masonic thing to Do " !