What is Donate Life Month?
Leaving a legacy doesn’t require fame, money or power — rather one selfless decision. For donor heroes and their families, that legacy lives on in lives saved and healed every day.
Every April, we celebrate National Donate Life Month to honor donor heroes, recipients, their families, loved ones and all others whose lives have been touched by organ and tissue donation. Donate Life organizations across the country make countless efforts to encourage others to register as organ and tissue donors and show appreciation for those who have saved and healed lives through donation.
This year’s theme? Leave a Legacy!
We’re using trees as a symbol of life and connection. Just like trees grow and support each other, donation connects people: donors, recipients and their families. They stand for generations, just like how a donor’s gift gives a lasting legacy of hope and life.
Love comes from the (donated) heart
Five-year-old Malaya Soares has been through more than many will experience in their entire lives. She was born with a heart condition called dilated cardiomyopathy, preventing blood proper blood flow.
“Turns out we have the exact same mutated gene,” says heart recipient and Soares’ mother, Mia Welch, about their identical diagnoses.
Once the team at Phoenix Children’s was able to stabilize Soares in an emergency, she was added to the national organ waiting list in hopes of a new heart. After 14 long days on the transplant list, Soares got her donated heart on the birthday of Welch’s own heart donor, further tightening their mother-daughter bond.
Afterward, Soares developed post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD). Essentially cancer, PTLD is a life-threatening complication after a transplant. But with a sparkly tiara, a bright smile and a personality to match, Soares has a new heart and is now cancer free.
It just so happens that we also celebrate Pediatric Transplant Week from April 19 – 25. Learn more at Ending the Pediatric Waiting List.
How we celebrate
Each year when April rolls around, we love finding ways to share the life changing gift of organ and tissue donation in Arizona.
How? We invite our partner organizations and all of Arizona to help share the gift of organ and tissue donation with the public and encourage Arizonans to register. We link arms with churches, hospitals, community partners and many more to spread the word and even host registration tables at different sites.
Check out our Donate Life Month Calendar to see how you can help celebrate.
And of course, this month’s events and initiatives is possible with the support of our wonderful sponsors: National Bank of Arizona, Artivion and GoldBook Financial. Their commitment to the mission helps us educate Arizonans and honor donor heroes, recipients and champions alike. Thanks to their generosity, we can share the lifesaving hope of organ and tissue donation and give hope to those still waiting for the gift of life.
How will you leave a legacy?
Help us encourage Arizonans to leave a legacy! Visit one of our many registration tables across Arizona this April or, even better, sign up to volunteer here.
You can share your support and highlight organ and tissue donation on social media and encourage family and friends to register. Visit DonateLifeMonthAZ.org for posters, social media templates and other resources.
Want to find a way to make a direct impact? You can take the most important step — register or reaffirm your decision to be an organ and tissue donor online today at DonateLifeAZ.org or check the box next time you visit your local MVD to apply for or renew a driver’s license or ID.