2022 -- H 8070

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LC005553

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2022

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H O U S E   R E S O L U T I O N

COMMEMORATING APRIL OF 2022 TO BE "ORGAN DONATION MONTH" IN THE

STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

     Introduced By: Representatives Shekarchi, Blazejewski, Serpa, McNamara, Cassar,
Filippi, McLaughlin, Kennedy, Tanzi, and Shallcross Smith

     Date Introduced: March 31, 2022

     Referred To: House read and passed

     WHEREAS, Each and every day new people join the national organ transplant waiting

list. Sadly, many of them will die because not enough organs are available for transplant, and

thousands of others whose lives would greatly benefit from the gift of an organ, eye, or tissue

donation continue to wait and hope; and

     WHEREAS, Organ donation is the surgical removal of organs from one person and

transplanting them to replace the non-functional organs of another person and is oftentimes the

only hope at a new life for people with end-stage organ failure; and

     WHEREAS, Currently, there are more than 106,000 Americans, with more than 6,700 in

New England, who are waiting for a life-saving organ transplant; and

     WHEREAS, All Rhode Islanders can help to save someone's life and can benefit up to

fifty recipients by signing up to become an organ and tissue donor by enrolling in the Rhode

Island Donor Registry when they apply for, or renew, their drivers licenses or by registering on-

line at www.RegisterMe.org; and

     WHEREAS, In Rhode Island, ninety-nine percent of all people who register to become a

donor do so at the Division of Motor Vehicles. It is a fast and easy way to sign up to save a life

and it is fitting that Rhode Islanders join in the national goal of signing up fifty percent of our

driving population to become donors; and

     WHEREAS, Organ Donation Month also provides us all with the opportunity to honor

and pay tribute to organ and tissue donors and their families whose decision to Donate Life

enables others to receive life-saving organs and tissues for transplant; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island hereby

proclaims April of 2022 to be "Organ Donation Month" and moreover urges all Rhode Islanders

to become life-saving champions by getting the heart on their driver's license/ID/Real ID and by

promoting the cause of saving lives through organ donation and awareness for this noble cause;

and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to the Rhode Island Organ Donor Awareness

Coalition (RIODAC) and Walter Craddock, Division of Motor Vehicles.

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LC005553

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