SAAC Teams Up With Donate Life California
ROHNERT PARK, Calif.- Jennifer Russo, President of the
Sonoma State University Student-Athlete Advisory Committee
(S.A.A.C.) has announced that Seawolves' students will participate
in the National Donation Campus Challenge, a partnership between
organ and tissue donation organizations and college, universites,
and other post-secondary institutions across the nation.
S.A.A.C. will organize and lead the effort on the Sonoma State
campus and work specifically with the California Donor Transplant
Network (CDTN) on the Donate Life California campaign. The
campaign runs until Friday, November 20th and the SSU
student-athletes have a goal of reaching beyond their Rohnert Park
campus to all of Sonoma County.
"As student-athletes, community research is something we are
emphasizing this year," said Russo, a current women's basketball
student-athlete. "We area all very excited to be involved
with such a special cause like Donate Life California. I feel
this is a program not many people are aware of. Promoting
this cause for organ donation and awareness to our campus community
and Sonoma County is very important."
The easiest method for potential donors to sign up is online
through the official website of the Sonoma State University
Seawolves, www.sonomaseawolves.com. A link will be provided
to the sign-up page,
www.donatelifecalifornia.org/sonomastateseawolves. The
student-athletes will also focus on donor sign-ups on campus by
tabling each week.
Several upcoming women's volleyball and men's and women's soccer
games have been designated as "Donor Games" to help promote the
Donate Life California campaign and create donor awareness.
Community members that attend the following games can earn free
admission to the game by signing up as an organ and tissue
donor:
Saturday, October 10th, Volleyball vs. UC San Diego at the Wolves'
Den, 7:00 pm
Sunday, October 11th, Men's and Women's Soccer vs. Cal State L.A.
at Seawolf Field, 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Why is this campaign so important? Because each day, 78
Americans receive a life-saving organ transplant, and thousands
more benefit from cornea and tissue transplants. These
extraordinary gifts have been generously donated by ordinary people
of all ages and backgrounds who took just a few minutes in a busy
day to indicate their decisions and become organ and tissue
donors. However, broader awareness of the need for organ
donation is crucial, as more more than 100,000 people are currently
awaiting an organ transplant in the United States and each week
more than 100 people on the national transplant waiting list die
because no organ is available.
* Here are some facts about organ, tissue, and eye donation:
* Each organ donor may save up to eight lives, and each tissue
donor can enhance the quality of life for up to 50 people.
* The gift of life is ageless- anyone can sign up to be an organ
donor, at any age.
* Most people are eligible to sign up on the donor registry- the
medical criteria at the time of donation will determine
eligibility.
* Cornea transplants have been successful for more than 100
years.
* Organ transplants have been successful for more than 50
years.
To learn more about organ and tissue donation or to register as an organ and tissue donor, simply visit www.organdonor.gov/campus or www.donatelifecalifornia.org/sonomastateseawolves.
