Gift of Life Night with the Detroit Shock

Gift of Life Michigan is teaming up with the WNBA Champion Detroit Shock to promote organ, tissue and eye donation!  Join us for a special Gift of Life Night at 6 p.m. Sunday, August 9, when the Shock plays the Chicago Sky at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

Special discounted tickets are available for $20 (a $38 value). Gift of Life will have an on-court presence before and during the game. Cornea transplant recipient Gina Gonzales will be featured in a public service announcement with the Shock's Alexis Hornbuckle during the game.

The first 250 Shock fans who sign up on the Donor Registry during the game (or who show they already have a heart sticker on their license/ID card) will receive a free Gift of Life/Shock T-shirt to show their team spirit!

For more information, please download the Gift of Life/Detroit Shock flyer.

To buy tickets, contact: Jennifer Tislerics or 800-482-4881, ext. 1048 or
Samantha Hicks or 248-377-8732 - mention the "Gift of Life game"

Michigan's new Enhanced Driver's License includes
red heart donor emblem

Travel home from Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and the Caribbean will be easier with Michigan's new Enhanced Driver's License and Identification Card. As of June 1, 2009, federal document requirements for entering the United States will be implemented.  Michigan's new Enhanced Driver's License and ID Card enable residents to return by land or sea without a passport.

Another feature of the Enhanced License and ID Card is the red heart donor designation is embedded directly into the card - no sticker required.

When you apply for an Enhanced License or ID Card, be sure to sign up on the Michigan Organ Donor Registry and get the red heart donor emblem included.

For more information about the new license and ID card, go to www.michigan.gov/sos.

The event was attended by more than 100 employees, donor family members, organ and tissue recipients and representatives from the Michigan Health & Hospital Association and the Michigan Eye-Bank.

Nearly 60 hospitals statewide also are flying or displaying “Donation Saves Lives” flags through April in hopes of encouraging more people to join the Michigan Organ Donor Registry.

“The need is immense in Michigan and across the nation as thousands of critically ill patients wait for life-saving organ transplants,” said Richard Pietroski, executive director of Gift of Life Michigan and a tissue recipient himself.

Volunteers sought to help in Metro Detroit

Through posters, motivational counter cards and materials, Gift of Life Michigan is encouraging customers at Secretary of State branch offices in Wayne and Oakland counties to tell the clerks they want to join the Michigan Organ Donor Registry.

Now, Gift of Life wants your help. On Wednesdays and Fridays in April and May, volunteers are needed at the Secretary of State branch offices to personally encourage customers to join the Donor Registry. Gift of Life will provide training, a polo shirt and handouts to people who volunteer for the federally funded "Tell Us Now" campaign. Click here to get more details about the "Tell Us Now" initiative, including information about a March 28 training, or contact Gift of Life Volunteer Coordinator Kim Zasa at kzasa@giftoflifemichigan.org.

The campaign has already produced 400 percent increases in donor registrations in other parts of the state. Please help us make it a similar success in Wayne and Oakland counties.

Hospitals across Michigan unite to fly Donate Life flag

Gift of Life Michigan, MHA Keystone: Gift of Life, the Michigan Eye-Bank and hospitals across the state have joined forces to promote organ, tissue and eye donation at their facilities in April by raising a Donate Life flag.

The initiative is part of a nationwide campaign to fly the Donate Life flag and to get more people to sign up on the Michigan Organ Donor Registry.

All hospitals and transplant centers are encouraged to participate. In addition, Gift of Life, MHA Keystone and the Michigan Eye-Bank will purchase flags for hospitals that agree to take part in the campaign.

Click here for an information sheet about the campaign.

Click here for a campaign participation order form.

Gift of Life announces 2008 Community Service and
Professional Service awards

Gift of Life presented its prestigious Community Service and Professional Service awards at the 37th annual Gift of Life Foundation meeting in Brighton, Mich., on Thursday, November 20, 2008.  These deserving award recipients all share a passionate desire to save and enhance lives through organ and tissue donation. 

Click here to read the full release.

18 Michigan hospitals receive Organ Donation Medal of Honor
from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services

Nashville, Tennessee, October 24, 2008 - Eighteen Michigan hospitals and medical centers have been awarded Organ Donation Medals of Honor from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services for their success in raising organ donation rates.

Click here to read the full release and see the list of winners.

Michigan Donor Drive launches
A new initiative to encourage hospital staff and their friends and family to sign up on the Michigan Organ Donor Registry is under way.

The Michigan Donor Drive debunks many of the myths surrounding organ donation. It is being led by Gift of Life Michigan, the Michigan Health & Hospital Association (MHA), the Secretary of State, the Michigan Eye-Bank and others. Although designed specifically for Michigan hospitals, the campaign has the potential to reach far beyond the medical community.

Here's what makes it special: The Michigan Donor Drive offers posters, e-Hearts, Web banners stickers and more designed by the national agency network, Campbell-Ewald, through its association with the University of Michigan Health System. The materials are all free and easy to use.

Learn more about the Michigan Donor Drive.

Best Practices, Best Results
hospital report

View the report.