Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Organ Donation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Mayor proclaims April 'Donate Life' month; local donors and recipients share stories
Summary
Mayor Jamie Clary proclaimed April National Donate Life Month; Tennessee Donor Services ambassadors and transplant recipients shared personal stories urging registration at donatelifetn.org and described life-saving impacts of organ and tissue donation.
Mayor Jamie Clary read a proclamation March 24 declaring April as National Donate Life Month and encouraged residents to register their decision at donatelifetn.org or at driver services centers.
Representatives and volunteers with Tennessee Donor Services then shared personal testimonials. Jeremy Cook, a teacher and coach at Station Camp High School, said he will donate a kidney April 28 to help a former teammate and described completing testing that produced a 92% match. “As of April 28, I will be donating a kidney,” Cook said, and urged others to consider living donation where appropriate.
Several transplant recipients described how donor gifts changed their lives. One recipient said they “owe [their] life to [their] donor,” and another noted traveling to study how elevation affects transplanted lungs. Bridal Lopez, identified in the meeting as an external affairs coordinator with Tennessee Donor Services, emphasized education and advocacy and reminded residents that about 100,000 people wait nationwide and roughly 3,000 people in Tennessee are on transplant lists.
Tennessee Donor Services staff asked residents to register at donatelifetn.org and highlighted both living donation and posthumous organ, eye and tissue donation as ways to save or extend lives. The mayor and board recognized the proclamation and thanked the speakers; a video accompanying the proclamation was shown during the presentation.
The remarks were ceremonial and informational; no board action was required beyond the proclamation.
