HARRISBURG – With April marking National Donate Life Month, PennDOT reminds driver’s license and identification card holders they can help another person live a fuller and longer life by registering online as an organ donor.
“Citizens considering adding the organ donor designation to their driver’s license or identification card can do so at any time – they do not have to wait for their renewal notices to take action,” said Kurt Myers, PennDOT’s deputy secretary for Safety Administration. “With a very small investment of their time, an individual can have the potential to save or enhance lives by visiting PennDOT’s Driver and Vehicle Services Web site and saying ‘yes’ to organ donation.”
It only takes 90 seconds or less to add the organ donor designation to a driver’s license or identification card by visiting www.dmv.state.pa.us and selecting the Online Services link, where the option to add the organ donor designation is found under Driver’s License/Photo ID Services. Once the designation is added, individuals will receive a designation card that they carry with them to affirm organ donor status until they renew their driver’s license or identification card.
Currently, nearly 45 percent of driver’s license and identification card holders are registered organ donors – that’s more than 4.2 million Pennsylvanians. Nearly 3,700 Pennsylvanians have used the online registration service since it began in 2006. More than 7,100 Pennsylvanians currently await organ transplants.
Driver’s license and identification card holders, as well as registered vehicle owners, can also support organ donation programs by donating $1 to the Robert P. Casey Memorial Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Trust Fund at the time of application and/or renewal. Proceeds from the fund are used to educate and promote awareness of the organ donor program through non-profit organizations like the Center for Organ Recovery and Education (CORE) and the Gift of Life (GOL) Donor Program. Pennsylvanians have generously donated more than $8.2 million to the fund since 1995.
For more information about organ and tissue donation in Pennsylvania, visit www.donatelife-pa.org.
