August is National Minority Donor Awareness Month. It is an opportunity to raise awareness and celebrate organ donation and transplantation in communities of diverse ethnicities and cultures. During the month, the community is encouraged to complete donor registration and have conversations with family about the importance of organ donation.
In recognition of National Minority Donor Awareness Month, South Texas Blood & Tissue is hosting an event, Diverse Desserts & Donations, on Thursday, August 22, from 11am – 1pm at the South Texas Blood & Tissue Donor Pavilion located at 6211 IH 10 West.
The community is invited to attend. Participants will have the chance to taste diverse desserts while learning about organ, eye, tissue, living donation, blood, and bone marrow donations from various organizations including Donate Life Texas, Methodist Transplant Institute, NMDP, San Antonio Eye Bank, Texas Organ Sharing Alliance, Transplants for Children.
In addition, participants will have the opportunity to register as donors on the Donate Life Texas state registry and donate blood on-site.
“There are many myths and misconceptions about organ donation and transplantation among minorities”, said Kimberly Monroe, Tissue Manager with South Texas Blood & Tissue. “That is why education and events like this are so critical to our communities especially during National Minority Donor Awareness Month.”
Nearly 60% of the national transplant waiting list is from minority communities. While transplants can be successful regardless of the ethnicity of the donor and recipient, the chance of longer-term survival may be greater if the donor and recipient are closely matched in terms of their shared genetic background.
A single donor can save up to 8 lives, restore sight to 2 people through cornea donation, and heal more than 75 lives through tissue donation. Anyone over the age of 18 can sign up to be a donor by visiting SouthTexasBlood.org/DonateLife.
