Celebrated in April each year, National Donate Life Month is a reminder to register as an organ and tissue donor and to celebrate those who have saved lives through the gift of life. In New Jersey alone, nearly 4,000 residents are currently awaiting transplantation. Cooper University Health Care has a long-standing partnership with the NJ Sharing Network to help increase the awareness of, and to facilitate, organ and tissue donation.
Cooper’s Donor Council, staffed with representatives from Trauma, Pediatrics, Emergency Medicine, Child Life, Pastoral Care, and others, meets regularly with NJ Sharing Network to review cases and establish best practices in organ donation. The team understands that organ donation is life-saving for the recipient, and it can also bring healing and closure for donor families.
The pandemic may have curtailed many in-person activities the Cooper team does to honor donors, such as the remembrance ceremony and flag raisings, but the importance and appreciation for those individuals and families has not been forgotten.