Donate Life Month Flag Raising

Sumner Regional Medical Center is honoring Tennessee Donor Heroes who have given the gift of life and healing through organ, eye and tissue donation. Donor families, transplant recipients, hospital staff, healthcare professionals, and donor advocates are gathering for a Donate Life flag raising and celebration of the gifts of life made at Sumner Regional and throughout Tennessee. If you have an interest or a connection to donation or have been moved by the gift of life through transplantation, you are invited to attend the event on April 12, 2023 at 10am in the Sumner Regional Medical Center lobby, 555 Hartsville Pike, Gallatin.

April is Donate Life Month, a national celebration of the lifesaving and changing impacts of organ, eye and tissue donation. Currently, more than 100,000 American men, women, and children are waiting for a lifesaving organ transplant, and every day, nearly 20 people die waiting for an organ transplant. Sumner Regional partners with Tennessee Donor Services, the nonprofit that makes organ donation possible in Tennessee, to save lives through donation. 

Organ donation is exceptionally special here in Sumner County because in April 2022, the Sumner County Commission unanimously adopted a resolution making Sumner County, TN, the first-ever Donate Life Locality in the United States!

Did you know that one organ donor can save the lives of eight people? One tissue donor can improve the lives of 75 or more individuals. In 2021, a record number of organ transplants – more than 41,000 – saved more lives than ever!

Even if you cannot attend the in person event, the biggest way you can make an impact is by registering to become an organ and tissue donor, and then share that decision with your family. You can register easily online at DonateLifeTN.org or by checking “YES” on your driver’s license application and every time you renew. To see if you are registered, you can check to see if you have a heart on your driver’s license.

Donation is heroic, and a way for the deceased to live on. You can even specify which organs and tissues you would like to donate. Some examples include your heart, lungs, kidneys, or pancreas for organs, and skin, bones, ligaments, and corneas for tissues.

This month, various locations around the cities will be lit blue and green, the official colors of organ donation on April 14 to mark Blue and Green Day and celebrate donor heroes. Area businesses are also offering discounts and specials as part of the “Show Your Heart Sumner” campaign. You can follow Donate Life Tennessee’s and Sumner Regional Medical Center’s social media accounts to get more information about businesses showing their commitment to raising awareness about the power of organ and tissue donations by offering specials and discounts to patrons who show they are a registered donor.

Please choose to celebrate life and #BeTheGift. To learn more about organ and tissue donation, visit BeTheGiftToday.com or DonateLifeTN.org.