April Is Donate Life Month

Berryhill spoke in support of recently passed resolutions to name April 2016 as Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV)/Donate Life Month in California. Senator Berryhill and coauthor Senator Sharon Runner are both transplant recipients. Berryhill notes it is the 13th annual National donate life month. He says “We wanted to raise awareness of the need for donors and how simple it is to participate. By simply checking the box on your DMV renewal form you can potentially change someone’s life.” He continues, “I received a heart transplant in 2001 and will be forever grateful someone said ‘yes’ to organ donation. Ten years ago, I was involved in the effort to create the DMV/Donate Life registry and am thrilled to report it has grown to include more than 13 million people. It is now the largest registry in the world.”

Senator Runner says, “I never could have imagined the blessings that would come from my lung transplant and second chance at life. Every day I am thankful for the selfless generosity of my organ donor and the life-saving work of organizations like Donate Life.”

Some facts on organ donation in California:

• In 2015, 918 Californians became organ donors.
• 3,417 life-saving transplants were performed the state.
• 929 people died due to the shortage of available organs
• 22,000 Californians await transplants (1 in 5 on the national waiting list)
• In 2015, California had the longest waiting time and most deaths while waiting.
• 40% of Californians sign up as donors, 95% register through DMV
  
• The Superintendent of Public Instruction has recognized Donate Life California’s high school education program, which has educated students about organ, eye, and tissue donation for the past six years.
• Signing up online with DMV available here or directly with Donate Life here.

The video below is Sen. Berryhill celebrating the approved legislation. He notes that Senator Runner was not able to be present due to complications. He says May 10th will be his 15th year since his heart transplant and how special it is to watch his 15.5 year old daughter grow up “I would never have been able to do that with out this organization.”

The text of California House Resolution 44 is here the text of Senate Resolution 71 is here.