The University of Toledo Medical Center will commemorate the start of a monthlong campaign to raise awareness about the critical need for organ and tissue donors in northwest Ohio and around the country with a ceremony Tuesday, April 1.
Officials from UTMC, the region’s only transplant center, will gather with representatives from Life Connection of Ohio and Community Tissue Services for a ceremonial flag raising of the Donate Life flag at 11:30 a.m. at the flag pole outside the main entrance to the hospital on Arlington Avenue.
UTMC leaders will be joined by organ recipients and donor families for some brief comments. Following the flag raising, the “Green Chair” will be on display outside the gift shop in the medical center until 2 p.m.
The green chair is a symbol that represents someone who has received a second chance at life because someone else made the decision to be a donor.
The chair also will be on display Saturday through Monday, April 5-7, in various UTMC locations. Life Connection of Ohio and Community Tissue Service volunteers will be on hand at each location to answer questions about organ and tissue donation.
UTMC also will hold a Celebration of Life event to honor the memory of those who have generously given the gift of life through organ and tissue donation. The event will take place Saturday, April 5, from 2 to 3:30 p.m. in the Mulford Café.
April is Donate Life Month. Life Connection of Ohio, Community Tissue Services, Donate Life Ohio and UTMC are working together to educate patients, visitors, staff and the community about the importance of organ, eye and tissue donation, and to encourage more people to make the decision to register as donors.
Register to be an organ, eye and tissue donor and give hope to those who wait.
To learn more about organ tissue and eye donation, call 800.262.5443 or go to donatelifeohio.org.
