CLEARFIELD– A proud scene at Penn Highlands Clearfield in the beautiful afternoon of April 18th, 2025; the Center for Organ Recovery and Education (CORE) is an organization dedicated to supporting, promoting and educating people on the importance and positive effect of organ donation. April is National Organ Donation month in the United States, and in the pursuit of showing the public how crucial organ donors are to the public, CORE and the nonprofit Donate Life America, partnered with Penn Highlands in DuBois and Clearfield in hoisting a flag in solidarity with the cause.
In the United States, over one hundred thousand people are on a waiting list to receive a crucial organ donation. Many of these patients are in debilitating or even life-threatening condition, and every day this list gets longer and longer. CORE is a foundation that is steadfast in its commitment to finding willing organ donors, and has been successful in facilitating the donation of organs, improving and saving the lives of thousands since their founding in 1977.
On the scene to speak in both Clearfield and DuBois was the proud mother of an organ donor. Darlene Kearney, of Clearfield, spoke at length about the weight and power behind the decision to donate an organ, which Kearney made on behalf of her dear daughter, Rachelle. In 2023, just weeks removed from the passing of her son, Evan, Kearney lost her daughter Rachelle unexpectedly due to sudden illness.
At the hospital, Rachelle was pronounced brain dead, and it was there that when asked about organ donation, Kearney opted to sign her daughter up; Rachelle’s donation of a kidney saved the life of a 41 year old man in New Jersey, while her heart and her lungs were also donated for research purposes.
Speaking of her own personal experience, Kearney was outspoken of the positivity and support that CORE provides not only to donor recipients, but to the families and loved ones of brave donors. Chiefly, she cited the invaluable role that CORE has, and continues to play in her process of grief, healing and growth in the months that followed her loss. In particular, she highlighted the care with which CORE listens and supports the families of donors, and praised the active role they take in offering resources for those grieving.
Kearney and her sister, Diane Jones, have traveled and participated as proud volunteers in a number of sanctioned CORE events and conferences, where both have found a sense of purpose, and a positive emotional trajectory after dealing with such harsh losses. It is in the process of organ donation, where Kearney spoke of the pride she takes in knowing that, while her daughter is dearly missed, that a piece of her remains out in the world, brightening the lives of people far away from here, just as Rachelle did in life.
When asked about why to consider organ donation, Kearney emphatically detailed the power any one person has, to save as many as eight lives by signing up to be an organ donor. In addition to that, tissue donors can save as many as seventy five lives, cornea donors can restore the sight of two people, and even non-transplantable organs can be used for research purposes. She noted that the simple, driving factor of what both herself, and CORE stand for in pushing this message, is that there is a pressing need for willing donors, as while over one hundred thousand patients have already been waiting, one more is added on every eight minutes on average.
More than six thousand wait on a life saving transplant in Pennsylvania alone, with more than five hundred in West Virginia. Of these, around sixteen people on these lists pass away each day, before receiving a transplant. With the potentially life-saving decision to donate, as few as two donors have the potential to erase that sixteen person deficit, any given day. Readers are encouraged, if they haven’t already, to please at least consider singing up for organ donation.
Signup is quick, simple, and most importantly off all, costs the donor $0; anyone who believes this is a cause they would like to play a role in, can designate themselves as an organ donor at your local DMV, or can head to the National Donate Life Registry form on CORE’s website. To any person who wants to donate, but is unsure if they are eligible to, there is good news: anybody can register! Within the last year, a man donated successfully at 98 years old; anybody, regardless of their age, sex, or condition physically or mentally, is not just allowed but greatly encouraged to register to donate.
It is a power that every single person can take into their hands, and the difference it can make in the lives of both recipients and donor families is far beyond life-changing.
