Senate Resolution No. 1812
BY: Senator RIVERA
MEMORIALIZING Governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim
April 2026, as Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness
Month in the State of New York, in conjunction with
the observance of National Donate Life Month
WHEREAS, Organ and tissue transplantation has advanced from an
experimental technique to a successful mode of therapy; for many,
transplants mean an improvement in the quality of life; for others they
mean the difference between life and death; and
WHEREAS, Each year, there are thousands of people waiting for
lifesaving organ transplants; many will die before an organ becomes
available; the need for organ donation is real and urgent; and
WHEREAS, Nationally, the current waiting list for organs exceeds
100,000 and thousands more need tissues; in New York State alone, nearly
8,000 people are waiting for a transplant; more names are added to the
waiting list daily and the number of people on the waiting list far
exceeds the number of donors; and
WHEREAS, To focus attention on the importance of organ and tissue
donation and to express gratitude for those who have already given the
gift of life, it is the intent of this Legislative Body to memorialize
Governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim April 2026, as Organ and Tissue Donor
Awareness Month in the State of New York, in conjunction with the
observance of National Donate Life Month, which incorporates both organ
and tissue, as well as other donations; and
WHEREAS, Citizens of the State of New York have, for many years,
been encouraged to enroll as organ, eye, and tissue donors through the
New York State Donate Life Registry, a secure database of individuals
who have chosen, upon their death, to donate their organs and tissues,
and may do so through multiple accessible pathways, including online
enrollment, registration through state agency services, enrollment when
applying for or renewing a driver's license or non-driver identification
card, enrollment through voter registration, and at various locations
and events held State each year; and
WHEREAS, Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Month provides the
opportunity to help New Yorkers learn more about organ donation, to help
the thousands of patients awaiting transplantations, and to recognize
the critical need for organ, eye, tissue, bone marrow, and blood
donation; and
WHEREAS, Many New Yorkers have set a powerful example, agreeing to
become organ and tissue donors and taking a selfless action which may
potentially save or enhance the lives of others, yet there continues to
be a shortage of vitally-needed organs and tissues and the disparity
between the number of registered donors and the number of people needing
transplants grows each year; a single person donating at the time of
their death can help as many as 75 people; and
WHEREAS, No one knows when they or a loved one may need a transplant
to survive, or tissue to repair injury or treat disease; while there are
over 19 million New Yorkers, currently, an estimated 8 million are
enrolled in the New York State Donate Life Registry; and
WHEREAS, The observance of Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Month
provides the opportunity to educate people, to encourage them to
consider organ and tissue donation, to add their names to the New York
State Donate Life Registry expressing their consent to donate, ensuring
that more lives are saved, and to inform their families and friends of
their decision; and
WHEREAS, Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Month is also a time to
recognize and applaud the researchers, medical professionals, advocates
and volunteers, past and present, who have contributed so much to the
advancement of organ and tissue donation and transplantation and, most
particularly, to acknowledge and express our deepest gratitude for the
extraordinary generosity and altruistic gifts of deceased and living
donors and their families, so that others may have the opportunity to
rear a family, hold a job, and pursue a fuller and more active life;
now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
memorialize Governor Kathy Hochul to pro- claim April 2026, as Organ and
Tissue Donor Awareness Month in the State of New York; and be it further
RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be
transmitted to The Honorable Kathy Hochul, Governor of the State of New
York; and Donate Life New York State.
