Letter: Registering as organ donor an act of Thanksgiving

Topeka Capital-Journal
As Thanksgiving approaches each year, I, like many Americans, start to count my blessings and think about the things I am grateful for.

Family tops my list. I was lucky enough to grow up with a wonderful stepfather whom I consider my dad. Sadly, I watched his health decline from kidney disease for 15 years. More than anything, I wanted to help him. Because of other health issues, he wasn’t a candidate for a kidney transplant, but there are almost 100,000 people who are. So, in my dad’s honor I anonymously donated by kidney to someone who needed it.

I also advocate for the needs and interests of other people in need of a transplant and their loved ones. I am especially proud to serve on the Patient Affairs Committee of United Network for Organ Sharing, the organization that runs the national transplant network.

We work toward a time when everyone in need of a transplant has a chance to receive one. Until then, UNOS develops policies to ensure that available organs are matched with transplant candidates as fairly and efficiently as possible.

As you think about what you have and are thankful for, please remember the men, women and children who anxiously await the gift of life. And if you haven’t yet done so, please commit today to giving them this greatest of all gifts by signing up on our state donor registry: www.donatelifekansas.com.

CORRIE WRIGHT, Topeka
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"You have the power to SAVE lives."
To register as a donor in California:
www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org | www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org
Outside California:
www.organdonor.gov | www.donatelife.