SWOSU to Promote Organ Donor Awareness at Football Game

October 4, 2005

Weatherford, OK - Southwestern Oklahoma State University will be joining other schools in the Lone Star Conference in an effort to raise awareness for the ongoing need of organ and tissue donation.

All spectators attending SWOSU’s football game against East Central Saturday, Oct. 8 will receive an Organ Donation Card, courtesy of the Southwest Transplant Alliance. The handout answers commonly asked questions as well as instructing in the simple procedures necessary to become an organ donor.

Founded in 1974, Southwest Transplant Alliance is one of the largest organ procurement organizations in the United States. It provides the official link between those who need an organ to survive, and those who have the potential to save lives by becoming donors.

The organ donor awareness project was started in 1997 by LSC Commissioner Fred Jacoby and has been eagerly endorsed by the league’s executive council and members of the Student-Athlete Advisory Council as its main community service project.

Jacoby, himself a heart transplant recipient, has overseen the program’s tremendous growth as it has been adopted by several other collegiate athletic conferences across the nation. Earlier this year he was recognized by the Texas Rangers Major League Baseball team for his productive lifestyle and his contributions to organ donation since his own transplant in 1989.

“Thousands of people die each year awaiting organ and tissue donations,” Jacoby said. “If what we do ends up saving one life then it certainly worth it.”

More than 89,000 people nationally are awaiting organ donations at this time with 550 in the state of Oklahoma, according to Phil Van Stavern, director of marketing for LifeShare Transplant Donor Services of Oklahoma.

Oklahoma has more than 1.28 million registered donors and ranks among the nation’s highest for number of registered donors.

For more information about organ donation in Oklahoma, persons are encouraged to visit LifeShare’s website at www.lifeshareok.org or call 1-800-826-LIFE.