By By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
Michigan Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land designated April 11 as Buddy Day to aid organ donation.
April is also "Donate Life Month" across the country.
On Monday, Gift of Life Michigan and Michigan Eye Bank volunteers, known as Buddies, fanned out from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Secretary of State offices to distribute organ donor information.
Buddies have either received a transplant, are waiting for one, are the family and friends of a recipient or donor or are organ donor supporters.
Betty McWilliams of Dowagiac, who had a heart transplant 16 years ago, greeted visitors to the branch in North Pointe Center, as she does every spring.
This year about 130 branch offices hosted Buddies to promote greater awareness of the need for organ, tissue and eye donations.
All offices had organ donor information on display.
Land made her comments while observing Buddy Day at Hurley Medical Center in Flint and William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak.
Joining Land were organ donor officials, physicians, transplant recipients and donor families, all of whom shared compelling stories about the benefits of organ and tissue donation.
Land explained that 2004 was a record-breaking year for organ donation.
The number of recovered organs was up 33 percent from the previous year.
Gift of Life Michigan reported that 920 organs were recovered from 276 donors.
Tissue donations, such as heart valves, corneas and skin, reached 748, up from the previous year. As a result, hundreds of Michigan residents who once faced uncertain futures now look forward to much healthier, happier lives. However, nearly 2,700 people are still waiting for a transplant.
About 14 die each month because of a lack of donors.
Tom Beyersdorf, Gift of Life Michigan executive director, accepted an executive proclamation marking April as Michigan Donate Life Month.
Recognition for outstanding work in advancing the cause of organ donation was given to lung transplant recipient Sister Marie Sweeney of Detroit and the advocacygroup Spreading Organ Donation Awareness of Flint. Land presented each with a Shining star award on behalf of the Department of State, commending them for their dedication.
Land also applauded recent legislative initiatives that would allow residents to have a heart insignia palced on the front of their driver's licenses or state identification cards, immediately indicating the person's intent to be an organ and tissue donor.
Residents who did not visit a branch office on Buddy Day still have plenty of opportunities to enroll in the donor registry.
The Department of State Web site makes registering easy with its online enrollment program at www.Michigan.gov/sos.
Additionally, enrollment cards are available at any branch office and are mailed with every driver's license and state identification card.
Gift of Life Michigan is the state's certified, full-service organ recovery organization.
The agency acts as an intermediary to provide educational resources for donors, recipients, physicians and hospital staff.
Contact Gift of Life Michigan at 1-800-482-4881 for more information about organ donation.