FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
TENNESSEE ORGAN DONATION FOUNDATION, INC.
AIMS TO EDUCATE
New nonprofit hopes to increase number of registered donors in Tennessee
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Mt. Juliet resident Johnny Black has formed the Tennessee Organ Donation Foundation, Inc., a new nonprofit organization, whose mission is to educate Tennesseans about the importance of organ and tissue donation and to increase the number of registered donors.
“We want people to know that organ and tissue donation is not about death, but rather about life,” said Black, a heart recipient and Executive Director of the Tennessee Organ Donation Foundation, Inc. “Five years ago, I could have been a statistic – one of the 19 Americans who die each day waiting on a life-saving organ transplant. However, my life was saved because a man I had never met, named Kent, cared enough to register as an organ and tissue donor.”
Black, who lives in Mount Juliet, founded the organization in Nov. 2011 because he perceived a great need to improve public education and awareness about organ and tissue donation in his home state of Tennessee. The Foundation’s Board of Directors is comprised solely of members of the transplant community, including an organ recipient (Black), a donor family member, Doris Gray, and a living donor, George Blank. The Board’s unique makeup ensures that the organization will always have the best interests of people in need of transplants as its number one priority. Each Board member is personally invested in the cause of organ and tissue donation because of his/her own experience with its life-saving and life-improving qualities.
The organization plans to hold various events in Davidson and surrounding counties and will distribute informational literature, answer questions about organ and tissue donation, and convince more Tennesseans to register as organ and tissue donors. In addition, the Foundation plans to hold speaking engagements in the area in order to share the personal stories of organ and tissue recipients and donors and their family members.
For more information about the Tennessee Organ Donation Foundation, Inc. and to learn how to register as an organ and tissue donor, please visit www.SaveLivesTN.org.
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