Donate Life Flag Raising Ceremony on Thursday
By the Midland Daily News

The fourth annual Donate Life Flag Raising Ceremony will take place on Thursday at 1 p.m. on the main campus of St. Mary's of Michigan, 800 S. Washington, Saginaw.
The ceremony will begin in St. Mary's of Michigan's chapel before proceeding outside to raise the Donate Life flag in memory of the St. Mary's of Michigan patients who have given the gift of life to others through their organ and tissue donations.

The flag-raising ceremony is a combined effort among Gift of Life Michigan, Michigan Eye-Bank and St. Mary's of Michigan to not only honor the memory of those who have donated but to also encourage others to sign-up for the Michigan Organ Donor Registry.
Currently, more than 2,900 Michigan residents are waiting to receive life-saving hearts, livers, lungs, kidneys and other organs. Last year in Michigan, 792 organs were transplanted, and nearly 10,000 patients have received a life-saving organ in the last 10 years.
Even though hundreds of lives were saved in result of these donations, it still was not enough to meet the growing need for organs and tissues. Eighteen people die every day in the U.S. waiting for an organ transplant.
Of the 10 million Michigan residents, about two million are currently registered donors.
Since 2007, residents no longer sign the back of their Michigan driver's license to indicate their wish to be an organ and tissue donor. Instead, they join the Michigan Organ Donor Registry. After doing that, a red heart sticker from the Michigan Secretary of State goes on their driver's license or state I.D., designating them as a donor.
People can register at giftoflifemichigan.org or at any Secretary of State office. For more information or to join the Donor Registry by phone, call 800-482-4881.