| R 209 |
| 2022 -- H 8070 Enacted 03/31/2022 |
| H O U S E R E S O L U T I O N |
| COMMEMORATING APRIL OF 2022 TO BE "ORGAN DONATION MONTH" IN THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND |
Introduced By: Representatives Shekarchi, Blazejewski, Serpa, McNamara, Cassar, Filippi, McLaughlin, Kennedy, Tanzi, and Shallcross Smith |
| Date Introduced: March 31, 2022 |
| WHEREAS, Each and every day new people join the national organ transplant waiting |
| list. Sadly, many of them will die because not enough organs are available for transplant, and |
| thousands of others whose lives would greatly benefit from the gift of an organ, eye, or tissue |
| donation continue to wait and hope; and |
| WHEREAS, Organ donation is the surgical removal of organs from one person and |
| transplanting them to replace the non-functional organs of another person and is oftentimes the |
| only hope at a new life for people with end-stage organ failure; and |
| WHEREAS, Currently, there are more than 106,000 Americans, with more than 6,700 in |
| New England, who are waiting for a life-saving organ transplant; and |
| WHEREAS, All Rhode Islanders can help to save someone's life and can benefit up to |
| fifty recipients by signing up to become an organ and tissue donor by enrolling in the Rhode |
| Island Donor Registry when they apply for, or renew, their drivers licenses or by registering on- |
| line at www.RegisterMe.org; and |
| WHEREAS, In Rhode Island, ninety-nine percent of all people who register to become a |
| donor do so at the Division of Motor Vehicles. It is a fast and easy way to sign up to save a life |
| and it is fitting that Rhode Islanders join in the national goal of signing up fifty percent of our |
| driving population to become donors; and |
| WHEREAS, Organ Donation Month also provides us all with the opportunity to honor |
| and pay tribute to organ and tissue donors and their families whose decision to Donate Life |
| enables others to receive life-saving organs and tissues for transplant; now, therefore be it |
| RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island hereby |
| proclaims April of 2022 to be "Organ Donation Month" and moreover urges all Rhode Islanders |
| to become life-saving champions by getting the heart on their driver's license/ID/Real ID and by |
| promoting the cause of saving lives through organ donation and awareness for this noble cause; |
| and be it further |
| RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to |
| transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to the Rhode Island Organ Donor Awareness |
| Coalition (RIODAC) and Walter Craddock, Division of Motor Vehicles. |
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| LC005553 |
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