July 21, 2019
By: Dwayne Page
July 22-26, 2019 is Tennessee County Clerk Appreciation Week and Donate Life Tennessee, is recognizing each of the 95 county clerks and their employees for their support of the Tennessee County Clerk Organ Donor Awareness Foundation (TCCODAF), educating Tennesseans on the importance of organ and tissue donation; and asking individuals to register as organ and tissue donors. Donate Life Tennessee staff and ambassadors will visit county clerk offices across the state to present them with a special gift.
“I am proud of the county clerk’s support of the TCCODAF and continued efforts promoting the Donate A Dollar campaign when residents receive or renew vehicle tags. The funds raised are key to Donate Life Tennessee’s efforts to educate on the importance of registering to be an organ and tissue donor.” Lawrence County Clerk Chuck Kizer, Foundation Chairman. “Becoming an organ donor gives hope to those who are desperately waiting to receive a lifesaving transplant.
Sometimes an unfortunate situation provides the fortune of life for another.”
Of the Tennesseans who have registered as organ and tissue donors, 98% have done so when receiving or renewing their driver licenses or state IDs at Driver Services Centers or at the 41 county clerk offices providing the service. Currently, more than 2.3 million Tennesseans are registered on the state registry.
In 2018, Tennesseans saved 1,026 lives through organ transplantation, one in Dekalb County, and thousands more received life improving tissue transplants. Today, more than 2,900 Tennesseans are listed on the national organ transplant list waiting, two in Dekalb County.
Donate Life Tennessee Registry is maintained by the state’s two organ procurement organizations, Tennessee Donor Services and the Mid-South Transplant Foundation. A critical part of their mission is to ensure Tennessee residents understand the importance of organ and tissue donation and provide them the information to register.
“We cannot overstate the impact our county clerks and their employees have on saving the lives of people in Tennessee and across our nation,” said Jill Grandas, Executive Director of Tennessee Donor Services. “We are extremely grateful to each them and the Tennessee County Clerk Organ Donor Awareness Foundation.”
For more information about organ and tissue donation, or to register as a donor, visit www.DonateLifeTN.org.