Bayonne Mayor declares April Organ and Tissue Donor month
By Sarah Rahman/The Jersey Journal
April 05, 2010, 1:45PM
Bayonne Mayor Mark A. Smith signed a proclamation declaring April as Organ and Tissue donation Month. Here, Smith presents the proclamation to teo local organ recipients, Dan Bonner, left and Jerry Kelly, right.To honor regional hospitals that perform organ and tissue transplants, Bayonne Mayor Mark A. Smith has proclaimed April "Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Month.""We are fortunate to have these life-saving facilities in our area," Smith said in a statement. "We need more people to be organ and tissue donors so that these crucial transplants can continue to save lives and improve patients' quality of life."
More than 3,000 life-saving transplants have taken place in New Jersey and a few dozen recipients live in Bayonne, according to local organ donor activists.
Bayonne residents Jerry Kelly, who received a heart transplant 15 years ago, and Dan Bonner, who received a liver transplant five years ago, were on hand when Smith recently issued his proclamation.
The New Jersey Chapter of the National Coalition on Donation was established to ensure that every citizen understands organ donation and accepts it as a fundamental human responsibility. The group urges residents to sign and carry a Uniform Donor Card with their identification.
For more information on organ and tissue donation, or to obtain a donor card, contact the Sharing Network at (800) SHARE-NJ.
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