For Immediate Realease Contact:

Mark Johnson
Media Coordinator
johnsonm@lifepoint-sc.org 
1-800-462-0755   

Donate Life SC Speaks to Greenville Legislative Delegation

Greenville, SC, April 10, 2007 –Last night, during the Greenville County Legislative Delegation meeting, Executive Director, Melissa Blevins, shared her passion for organ and tissue donation with the 19 Delegation members. After formally introducing the Donate Life SC organization to the group, Blevins told the Delegation that her experiences as a transplant nurse prompted her to become an advocate for organ and tissue donation.

“I saw first hand the critical need for more organ and tissue donors in South Carolina,” says Blevins.  “I watched many patients die needlessly waiting on a transplant. When a baby boy I had been caring for passed away waiting for a liver transplant, I knew I had to do something.”

Blevins went on to state the statistics in South Carolina.  Currently over 600 South Carolinians are on the waiting list for a life saving organ transplant.   In 2006, over 260 life saving transplants were performed in South Carolina, but 52 people in our state died waiting for a life saving organ.

On April 2^nd, Donate Life South Carolina launched a statewide Donate Life Month awareness campaign.  Throughout the month, Donate Life South Carolina staff and volunteers will be participating in various functions promoting organ and tissue donation.  For dates, times and locations of events, please visit www.donatelifesc.org.

About Donate Life South Carolina

Donate Life SC, formerly Gift of Life Trust Fund, is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1996 to increase the supply of organs and tissues for transplantation and provide patient assistance for South Carolina transplant recipients.