LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION memorializing Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to
proclaim April 2013 as Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Month in the
State of New York

WHEREAS, Organ and tissue transplantation has advanced from an exper-
imental technique to a successful mode of therapy; for many, transplants
mean an improvement in the quality of life; for others they mean the
difference between life and death; and
WHEREAS, Each year the waiting list for organ transplants grows long-
er; many people die before an organ becomes available; the need for
organ donation is real and urgent; and
WHEREAS, Nationally, the current waiting list for organs has reached
more than 116,000 and thousands more need tissues; in New York State
alone, nearly 10,000 people are waiting for a transplant; more names are
added to the waiting list daily and the number of people on the waiting
list far exceeds the number of donors; and
WHEREAS, To focus attention on the importance of organ and tissue
donation and to express gratitude for those who have already given the
gift of life, it is the intent of this Legislative Body to memorialize
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to proclaim April 2013 as Organ and Tissue
Donor Awareness Month in the State of New York, to be observed in
conjunction with National Donate Life Month; and
WHEREAS, Citizens of the State of New York have, for many years, been
encouraged to sign up to be an organ, eye, and tissue donor through the
New York State Donate Life Registry, a database of individuals who have
chosen, upon their death, to donate their organs and tissues, through
online registration, when they apply for or renew their driver's license
or non-driver identification card, or at various locations and events
held throughout the State each year; and
WHEREAS, Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Month provides the opportu-
nity to help New Yorkers learn more about organ donation, to help the
thousands of patients awaiting transplantations, and to recognize the
critical need for organ, eye, tissue, bone marrow, and blood donation;
and
WHEREAS, Many New Yorkers have set a powerful example, agreeing to
become organ and tissue donors and taking a selfless action which may
potentially save or enhance the lives of others, yet there continues to
be a shortage of vitally-needed organs and tissues and the disparity
between the number of registered donors and the number of people needing
transplants grows each year; a single person donating at the time of
their death can help as many as 50 people; and
WHEREAS, No one knows when they or a loved one may need a transplant
to survive, or tissue to repair injury or treat disease; while there are
over 19 million New Yorkers, currently, only 2.6 million are enrolled in
the New York State Donate Life Registry; and
WHEREAS, The observance of Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Month
provides the opportunity to educate people, to encourage them to consid-
er organ and tissue donation, to add their names to the New York State
Donate Life Registry expressing their consent to donate, ensuring that
more lives are saved, and to inform their families and friends of their
decision; and
WHEREAS, Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Month is also a time to
recognize and applaud the researchers, medical professionals, advocates
and volunteers, past and present, who have contributed so much to the
advancement of organ and tissue donation and transplantation and, most
particularly, to acknowledge and express our deepest gratitude for the
extraordinary generosity and altruistic gifts of deceased and living

donors and their families, so that others may have the opportunity to
rear a family, hold a job, and pursue a fuller and more active life;
now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
memorialize Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to proclaim April 2013 as Organ and
Tissue Donor Awareness Month in the State of New York; and be it further
RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be tran-
smitted to The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo, Governor of the State of New
York, the New York Organ Donor Network, the Long Island Transplant
Recipients International Organization, and the New York Alliance for
Donation.