One year ago, Erie County Clerk Chris Jacobs and his auto bureau staff set out on a "Donate Life" enrollment campaign with a goal of increasing the local number of registered organ donors by 30 percent. Thursday he announced that campaign was a success.Families of organ donors and organ recipients gathered at the Clerk's office to highlight the success of a campaign that added more than 22,000 people to the organ donor registry.
"Eighty percent of people that sign up to be organ donors do so at an auto bureau," Jacobs said. "This is a unique opportunity and privilege we have in our role, because of the hundreds of thousands of people who come into our offices, to be involved in saving lives."
When it comes to organ donation registries, New York State ranks 50th out of 50 in enrollment numbers. One organ donor, Jacobs says, can help save 50 lives.
The organ-donor organization Unyts partnered with the clerk's office on the enrollment campaign.
