Flag raising to honor organ donors April 3

KEARNEY & GRAND ISLAND–This April, National Donate Life Month, CHI Health will pay tribute to those who have saved lives through the gift of organ, eye and tissue donation. 

Hospital staff will raise the Donate Life flag in honor of its donors and donor families. The remembrance will include brief remarks and a prayer. 

CHI Health Good Samaritan, Kearney
Wednesday, April 3 at 11 a.m.
West Tower entrance flagpole

CHI Health St. Francis, Grand Island
Wednesday, April 3 at 11:30 a.m.
Front entrance flagpole 

CHI Health also asks the public to join them by wearing blue and green on April 12 in honor of National Donate Life Blue and Green Day. This show of support will give hope to those waiting for a life-saving gift and help build awareness about the importance of registering as an organ, eye and tissue donor. Join the Donor Registry at: liveonnebraska.org/register

-More than 103,000 people in U.S. are currently waiting for a lifesaving organ transplant.
-Over 300 people in Nebraska are waiting for a lifesaving organ transplant.
-Every 10 minutes another name is added to the transplant waiting list.
-Each day 20 people in the U.S. die waiting for an organ transplant.
-One deceased organ donor can save up to 8 lives, and one tissue donor can heal over 100 people.
-Anyone age 16 and over can register to be an organ, tissue and eyes.
-The organs that can be donated are lungs, heart, liver, pancreas, kidneys, intestines.
-The tissues that can be donated are corneas, heart valves, bone, skin, veins, connective tissue.
-46,632 organ transplants were performed in the United States in 2023.

2023 Nebraska organ and tissue donation statistics:
-103 deceased organ donors
-6953 living organ donor transplants
-466 deceased tissue donors
-274 birth tissue donors  (placenta, umbilical cord and amniotic fluid from planned C-sections)