The National Kidney Foundation of Colorado, Montana, and Wyoming partners with Donor Alliance and Donor Awareness Council in efforts to increase awareness regarding organ and tissue donation.

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The National Kidney Foundation Advances Organ Donation and Transplantation Efforts Through Diverse Activities and Accomplishments
The National Kidney Foundation, Inc. (NKF) has been a leader in the arena of organ and tissue donation for more than 30 years. From aggressive public policy to national public education programs and research into American attitudes toward organ donation, NKF maintains a steadfast commitment to the goal of alleviating this country's organ donor shortage and assuring that every American who needs a transplant receives one.

The following are some of NKF's historic accomplishments:

• Helped bring about the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act of 1968, allowing Americans to make a gift of an organ at the time of death
• Lobbied for landmark federal legislation to make dialysis and transplant treatment available to all who need it
• Prompted all 50 states to enact organ donor driver's license legislation
• Created first-ever National Organ Donor Day in 1982, encouraging members of Congress to publicly sign Uniform Donor Cards
• Worked with Congress to create National Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Week to raise public awareness about the need for organ donation. To this day NKF continues to spearhead annual awareness activities/events for that week.
• Instrumental in the passage of Congress' Transplant Act of 1984, prohibiting the sale of organs
• In 1990, presented the first national U.S. Transplant Games, attracting over 400 transplant recipients to Indianapolis, IN. NKF continued that effort biennially, with the most recent event being the 2002 U.S. Transplant Games, held at Disney's Wide World of Sports in Orlando, Florida - a celebration of life attended by a record 2,700 transplant recipients and donor families.
• In 1992, developed the National Donor Family Council, the first-ever national organization for organ donor families offering programs, such as a book and newsletter specially designed for donor families, the Bill of Rights for Donor Families and public and professional education.
• In 1994, began collaborating with the Division of Transplantation to offer the annual National Donor Recognition Ceremony
• In 1994, initiated the National Donor Family Quilt, made up of hundreds of patches designed by family members of organ and tissue donors honoring their loved ones and raising awareness about donation
• In 1996, established the transAction Council, which provides organ transplant recipients and their families with programs and information designed to improve their quality of life
• In 1997, led a collaborative effort of thirteen transplant organizations to develop the National Communication Guidelines, to help facilitate and guide communication between donor families and recipients.

1. More than 96,000 Americans are waiting for an organ transplant. More than 2,100 new patients are added to the waiting list each month.
2. Every day, 16 to 17 people die while waiting for a transplant of a vital organ, such as a heart, liver, kidney, pancreas, lung or bone marrow. Thousands of people await tissues for surgical procedures that will help them live normal lives. A donated cornea, for example, will help someone who is blind, to see again.
3. Because of the lack of available donors in this country, 2,295 kidney patients, 1,319 liver patients, 767 heart patients and 486 lung patients died in 1999 while waiting for life-saving organ transplants.
4. Acceptable organ and tissue donors can range in age from newborn to 65 years or older.
5. Organ donation is only an option after all attempts to save someone's life have been exhausted.
6. An estimated 10,000 to 14,000 people who die each year meet the criteria for organ donation, but less than half of that number become actual organ donors.
7. Donor organs are matched to waiting recipients by a national computer registry called the National Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) www.optn.org. This computer registry is operated by an organization known as the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS).
8. By signing a Uniform Donor Card, an individual indicates his or her wish to be a donor. However, at the time of death, the person's next-of-kin will still be asked to sign a consent form for donation. It is important for people who wish to be organ and tissue donors to tell their families about this decision so that their wishes will be honored at the time of death. It is estimated that about 35 percent of viable donors never become donors because family members refuse to give consent.
9. Organ transplant recipients are selected on the basis of medical urgency, as well as compatibility of body size and blood chemistries, and not race, sex or creed.
10. Advances in surgical techniques and organ preservation and the development of more effective drugs to prevent rejection have improved the success rate of all types of organ tissue transplants.
11. Virtually all religious denominations approve of organ and tissue donation as representing the highest humanitarian ideals and the ultimate charitable act.
12. To join the Organ Donor Registry click here

• Advocacy - to serve as an advocate for transplant recipients in legislative and medical issues
• Standard of Care - to increase retention of transplanted organs
• Programs and Services - to create and implement education and support programs that enhance the lives of transplant recipients and their families
• Communication - to identify ways to enhance communication and understanding between transplant recipients, their family members and their health care team
• Awareness - to increase organ donation through a greater public understanding of the donation process and the positive impact of successful transplants