Donate Life
Donate Life America is a nonprofit organization leading its national partners and Donate Life State Teams to increase the number of people willing to donate organs, eyes and tissues to save and heal lives through transplantation. Their mission is to develop a culture where donation is embraced as a fundamental human responsibility.
Madie was both a donor recipient through her nerve graft while in high school – as well as an organ donor upon her passing. The company that supplied Madie’s nerve graft was AxoGen, and Madie was able to help raise awareness about nerve graft donations through a video she, Kathy and her surgeon, Dr. Ziccardi were in. (click here for video). It was through AxoGen that Madie was sponsored to travel and participate in the Donate Life float during the 2019 Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena, CA. Madie became a part of the Axogen family. She traveled to speak at a corporate meeting in Florida; as a tribute, Axogen made this beautiful video in her memory.(click here for video) Madie’s family is passionate about raising awareness of Donate Life and motivating the public to register as organ, eye, and tissue donors. Registering to become an organ donor is a simple process and can be done by visiting www.RegisterMe.org.
This past Feburary, AxoGen invited Kathy and Chris to speak at the company's annual meeting in Orlando, FL. They gifted us with the unique experiences of being a part of the Donate Life Floats at the Rose Bowl Parades in 2019 and 2023. However, their true gift has been giving us the contentment of knowing Madie's life, although too short for us, had come full circle. The company has embraced Madie's essence of life; being present in the moment, living with passion, and being life-altering for others. And in Madie's spirit of fun and laughs, they organized and competed in a charity Cornhole Tournament. The money raised from the tournament will go towards workshops on college campuses to educate about the great work of Donate Life. If you are interested in having a workshop at your campus or company please e-mail us. (click here to email us)
For those who are willing and able, being a living donor is a way to contribute beyond registering to be a donor after passing. One of the best ways to be a living donor is by giving blood and plasma. MN2-gether will be sponsoring a Donate Life Blood Drive every 2/22. We will sponsor a site in our community, and encourage everyone who is not near Suffern, NY, to register to donate at their local Blood Donation Center.
The next level of remarkable generosity can be someone who donates plasma, bone marrow, a kidney, part of lung, part of liver, or part of pancreas. Donate Life America’s new National Donate Life Living Donor Registry allows anyone 18-65 who registers to be an organ, eye and tissue donor through the National Donate Life Registry to also register their interest in becoming a living kidney donor. While the National Donate Life Living Donor Registry is currently only available in Texas during this initial pilot phase, Donate Life America is launching the program nationwide in regional phases. There are also other local organizations and transplant programs which allow for individuals to become immediate living donors.