2015 - Donate Life Florida

2015
Annual
Report
Valerie, Liver Recipient
What can
YOU make
possible?
Cover photo:
After eight years of marriage, Valerie and her husband were ready to grow their family. Aniston, now six
months old, is a true miracle of life, as she would not be here if it hadn’t been for her mom’s liver
transplant. Diagnosed with biliary atresia – a disease of the bile ducts – at only 18 months old, Valerie needed
a transplant to survive, which she received when she was only two.
Twenty-seven years later, Valerie is enjoying being a new mom and looks forward to sharing the world with
Aniston. “To be able to live a normal childhood, get married and start our family all because of my transplant is
amazing. I’m thankful.”
“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is
‘What are you doing for others?’”
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
At the close of 2015, more than 8.5 million Floridians have chosen to be the somebody who does something
about more than 5,300 Florida residents – 121,000 in the United States – who are awaiting a lifesaving organ
transplant, and to give hope to hundreds of thousands more in need of tissue and cornea transplants annually.
They have chosen to Donate Life by joining Florida’s Joshua Abbott Organ and Tissue Donor Registry. More than
479,940 donation decisions were registered this year alone. Each registration is a legally binding decision, which
could result in organ transplantation for as many as eight people, and tissue and cornea transplantation for
dozens more.
Donate Life Florida (DLF) is a coalition of organ, tissue and eye recovery programs in Florida and other
individuals and organizations sharing an interest in life-saving and life-enhancing donation and transplantation.
DLF operates as a collaborative team comprised of Florida’s organ, tissue and eye recovery programs. Funds
allocated to DLF through our contract with the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) are derived
through voluntary contributions, not tax payer dollars. We also rely on membership dues and private
contributions to fund the outreach activities and programs not directly related to the registry.
This 2015 Annual Report to the community highlights the DLF accomplishments through our partnership with
the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and AHCA, as well as county tax collectors, business
and hospital partners and the community at large. It is a privilege and honor to serve Florida’s donation and
transplant community, for it is the patients in need who provide the motivation – and the generous organ, tissue
and eye donors who provide precious gifts of life.
Erin Morton , APR , CPRC
Chairman
Christopher Carroll , APR , CPRC
Executive Director
DONATE LIFE FLORIDA
The Joshua Abbott Organ and Tissue Donor Registry is the face of donation in Florida, with Donate Life Florida
members serving as the agents of donor designation promotion throughout the state.
The registry allows Floridians the convenience of registering online and indicating how they “heard about
us” by selecting options such as through a college or high school campaign or from the media. This custom
reporting utility enables us to run activity reports to help determine whether outreach efforts are generating
the desired outcome of increasing registrations. In addition to housing the registry, our website is the premier
source of donation-related information and education in Florida. Visitors can learn the facts about donation,
read heart-warming testimonials, find contacts and resources and make monetary donations to help support
the registry.
As a member of the national Donor Designation Collaborative, Donate Life Florida works closely with other
states on registry-related initiatives, and stays abreast of new technology and innovations that could enhance
Florida’s registry and allow it to remain one of the best registries in America.
In 2015, the registry continued to hold its place as the second largest registry in the country, behind only
California. At the end of the year, more than 8,588,945 Floridians had declared their wishes by registering as
organ, eye and tissue donors. This represents a 72.8 percent increase since July 2009 when the new registry
was launched, and a six percent increase in 2015 compared to the 8,122,241 registrants at the end of 2014.
THE REGISTRY
Of those 2015 enrollees:
• Ninety-eight percent enrolled through the Tax Collector or Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
offices, with two percent enrolling through the online and mobile applications. In 2015, 14,380 enrolled
through the web site, 124 were enrolled through the donor program-initiated smart phone application, and
3,269 were enrolled by accessing the website through their mobile devices.
• Fifty-four percent of the enrollees were female; 46 percent were male. Nineteen percent of the enrollees
were 18 years old or younger; 36 percent were between 19 and 35; 26 percent were between 36 and 55; and
19 percent are older than 56.
• Of those specifying ethnicity, 62 percent of the enrollees were white; 25 percent were Hispanic; ten percent
were Black, two percent of the enrollees were Asian, and one percent were American-Indian, Pacific-Islander
or other.
In 2015, Donate Life Florida enabled the opportunity for Floridians
to register their wishes through a smart phone app. This app allows
programs the opportunity to register people on site at different
community events in a matter of seconds.
Luis, Heart Recipient
MEASURING SUCCESS
Donate Life Florida participates actively in the Donor
Designation Collaborative (DDC), a national initiative
aimed at increasing registry enrollment among all state
registries and improving registries that have become
low-functioning. The DDC is led by the non-profit
organization Donate Life America and was launched in
2006. Since then, the DDC has helped increase national
registry enrollment from roughly 60 million to more
than 112 million. The DDC collects registry data from
all 50 states plus Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico
and sets the standard for effective registry design and
function.
Criteria Established by DDC for
Effective Registry Design
1. Online registration
2. No follow-up step required for DMV or online
enrollment
3. State-passed first-person donor authorization
legislation
4. 24/7 searchable organ, tissue and eye registry
database
5. DMV enrollment via driver license and
identification card applications and renewals by
all available channels
6. Available paper forms
7. Records that are searchable within one week of
enrollment
Source: Donate Life America 2014
National Donor Designation Report Card
2013 State Comparisons
COMMUNITY PRESENCE
April is National Donate Life Month!
This year, Floridians across the state showed their support for organ and tissue donation on
April 17 for the fourth annual National Blue and Green Day! The fifth annual National Blue
and Green Day will be observed on Friday, April 15, 2016.
Pictured: Blue and Green Day participants sent Donate Life Florida their photos to show their support for
organ, eye and tissue donation. What a great looking group!
COMMUNICATIONS
Donate Life Florida member programs consider increasing registry enrollment among their most important
public education goals. All communications, from media outreach to public service announcements to public
speaking engagements to health fairs, highlight the Joshua Abbott Organ and Tissue Donor Registry and
encourage registry enrollment.
DLF continues to capitalize on social media as an education tool. Donate Life Florida has a Facebook page
(www.facebook.com/DonateLifeFL) and posts photos, messages, news articles and events that highlight
donation and Florida’s registry. In 2015, more than 526 individuals who registered or updated their profile
online indicated they learned about the registry through media or a social media vehicle.
In addition, DLF member organizations share similar information on their social media outlets, allowing the
message of Florida’s registry to reach networks of citizens throughout Florida, as well as their friends and
family, with just the click of a mouse. Not only do Donate Life Florida and its member organizations distribute
information, but DLF invites comments, feedback and messages from people throughout the state who have
been touched by donation and transplantation or who have been inspired to register as organ, tissue and eye
donors as a result of DLF’s efforts.
MEDIA STORIES
Television22
Print
42
Programs around the state participated in media efforts
at the local level to continue to share the Donate Life
message and encourage Floridians to register themselves
as organ, eye and tissue donors.
Sophia, Heart Recipient
Approximately 98 percent of people who enroll on Florida’s donor registry do so while obtaining or renewing
a driver license. Even with the convenience of online registrations, DLF knows our most important partners
are Florida’s Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV) and county tax collectors throughout
Florida.
DLF continued to enhance partnerships with individual county tax collectors and their staff by attending
and presenting at the Florida Tax Collectors
Association’s spring and fall conferences. These
opportunities helped to recognize those offices
that are integrating the Donate Life message
into their daily activities, as well as share best
practices from around the state for increasing
donor registration rates among driver license
customers.
Driver license-issuing offices participated in
our April “Donate Life Challenge,” in which
offices compete to have the greatest donor
designation rate across the state. This exciting
initiative has actually expanded to a yearround effort, as more offices recognize the
importance of asking “Would you like to be
an organ donor?” In 2015, many DHSMV and
tax collector offices have altered the question
to showcase the difference that’s made with
every “yes.” For example, some offices are now
asking, “Would you like to be a hero and join
Florida’s organ and tissue donor registry?”
DHSMV and tax collector office partners
received monthly updates regarding their
donor registration rates compared to other
driver license offices statewide.
In 2015:
• Year-to-date organ donor registration rate among driver license customers of 50% vs 48% in 2014
• 2015 YTD statewide organ donor registration rate among driver license customers was 50%,
meeting the national goal for the first time.
• Eight of twelve months in 2015 maintained 50% donor designation rate.
• More than 2.99 million driver licenses issued, with more than 1.48 million donor registrations
(first-time and renewal)
• Nearly 715,000 first-time driver license donor registrations
• 10,468 people registered online and attributed to having heard about donation via “driver license services”
• Record high organ donor registration rates and voluntary contributions raised during April 2015
Donate Life Month campaign, “You Are My Sunshine” - raising more than $43,000!
DHSMV & TAX COLLECTORS:
VITAL PARTNERS
Pictured: Tax collector offices and state Department of
Highway Safety and Motor Vehicle offices from around the state participated in
Donate Life activities year round.
HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION
High school students continue to be a critical audience for donor education. As these students work toward
becoming more independent, they also are becoming more aware of the society in which they live. DLF hopes
to inspire students not only to register to become organ donors when they get their driver licenses, but also to
motivate them to encourage others to join the registry.
DLF continued to share poignant stories of donors, recipients and those who died waiting with more than
35,216 Florida students.
DLF’s collective efforts help to provide a foundation for students statewide. Member liaisons work diligently
to establish positive relationships with students, teachers and administrators. Goals for the coming year are
to increase the number of students who learn about organ and tissue donation and designate their wishes by
joining the registry and to engage more campuses in education efforts.
Pictured (below):
1) Amy Whittemore, donor mother, speaking to Ocala Forest
High School students about organ donation. Amy’s daughter,
Peyton Evans, saved four lives through organ donation. Peyton
was a Forest HS cheerleader.
2) The LifeShare kickoff event was held at Carrollton School
where more than 350 students heard from a panel of speakers
on the importance of organ donation and the impact it makes.
After the presentation, students asked questions and LifeShare
officers held a registration drive, signing up several new organ
donors.
3) Ashley Audent Kennen, double-lung recipient, Coral Denton
and JBo Harrison, heart recipient, speaking to students about
the Gift of Life at Lake Weir High School.
Dee, Recipient Mom and Donor Mom
Cari, Living Kidney Donor
HIGHER EDUCATION
Donate Life Florida has been a long-time sponsor of college campaigns to promote organ, tissue and eye
donation. This student-driven initiative encourages peer-to-peer communication about donation and started
on the University of Central Florida campus in 1997. It was adopted by Donate Life Florida in 1999 and is active
today on nearly ten campuses across the state.
Each campus has a designated representative from a Donate Life Florida member organization who serves as
the school’s professional liaison. Student directors and volunteers rally campus support through special events,
news articles, presentations and ongoing promotion with the guidance of their professional liaison.
Donate Life Florida continues to encourage more information sharing and increased accountability and
camaraderie among the campus teams. Throughout 2015, the Higher Education program educated, inspired
and trained teams so students could spread the word and educate their peers. Each individual campus team
set goals for the year and was motivated and energized to educate their peers on organ, tissue and eye
donation beginning with the first day of classes.
University and college campuses maintained activities throughout the summer, hosting several Green Ribbon
Days, peer-to-peer presentations and donor designation drives. In the fall, Donate Life events encouraged
students to save lives as organ, tissue and eye donors. The fall campus campaigns throughout the state
included creative social media promotions and special events intended to encourage students to join the
registry.
Special events, peer-to-peer presentations and activities allowed the Donate Life teams to reach more than
4,407 students in 2015. More than 150 individuals indicated they heard about the registry through a college
campaign when they enrolled on the registry.
In 2015, Donate Life Florida’s educational efforts reached more than 16,000 minorities through its grassroots
efforts and thousands more through media initiatives targeting the Hispanic, African-American and Haitian
communities. Minorities make up approximately 35 percent of the U.S. population yet comprise 55 percent
of the national organ transplant waiting list. Approximately 7.6 million people in Florida make up our
multicultural communities and more than half of those waiting for organ transplants in Florida are minorities.
National research shows that minority groups donate in proportion to their population; however, it is not
enough to meet the need. For many minorities, myths about donation and transplantation persist, resulting in
less favorable attitudes about donor designation.
Donate Life Florida members and volunteers, including transplant recipients and donor families, worked
together to dispel myths about donation that prevail in the Hispanic, African-American and Haitian
communities. DLF contributed hundreds of hours hosting educational tables at health fairs, making
presentations and participating in special events. DLF teams reached high school and college students, seniors
and faith communities, and outreach took DLF members from parks to churches, to parades, sporting events
and Chamber of Commerce events.
Educational initiatives resulted in a significant increase in donor designations. More than 283,000 Hispanic,
Asian, Pacific Islander, Native-American, African-American or other non-white individuals joined the Joshua
Abbott Organ and Tissue Donor Registry this past year.
MULTICULTURAL OUTREACH
XXXXXXX
Workplace Partners make a commitment to
educate their employees, members, and/or
customers on the critical importance of blood,
bone marrow, and organ and tissue donation
and join to provide opportunities for people to
register as donors.
WORKPLACE PARTNERSHIP FOR LIFE
From mail rooms to board rooms, high schools to hospitals, professionals across a wide spectrum of industries
heard the important message about organ donation in 2015. Florida’s Workplace Partnership for Life
program, which gives organizations the tools to educate their employees about donation, reached more than
23,000 individuals. Over the course of the year, the program provided speakers for staff meetings, donation
representatives at health fairs and office supplies imprinted with the Donate Life message.
One of the biggest ways to engage employers is by having employees share their stories and provide
inspirational testimonials. Video testimonials were made to showcase the importance of having a supportive
workplace. Partnerships blossomed and many organizations enjoyed their own landing page on the registry,
welcoming their employees to the website and encouraging them to learn more about organ donation. These
tools allow Donate Life Florida to tailor program initiatives to each organization’s culture and create the
simplest path for people to designate themselves as donors.
Austrual, Double Lung Recipient
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
ORGANIZATIONAL MEMBERS
Florida Lions Eye Bank
International Sight Restoration
LifeLink® of Florida
LifeLink® Tissue Bank
LifeNet Health of Florida
LifeQuest Organ Recovery Services
Life Alliance Organ Recovery Agency
Lions Eye Institute for Transplantation and Research
Medical Eye Bank of Florida
RTI Donor Services
RTI Surgical
TransLife
TransLife Tissue Bank
UMTB Biomedical, Inc.
UMTB Donor Services Foundation
BOARD OF DIRECTORS/OFFICERS
Chairman - Erin Morton, MA, APR, CPRC, RTI Surgical
Vice-Chairman - Kristine Neal, APR, TransLife
Immediate Past Chairman - Jennifer Krouse, LifeLink®
Secretary - Ashley Moore, LifeLink of Florida
Treasurer - Kathleen M. Giery, APR, CPRC, LifeQuest Organ Recovery Services
Executive Director - Christopher Carroll, APR, CPRC, Donate Life Florida
Director - Ruth Duncan Bell, MPA, LifeLink of Florida
Director - Beverly Bliss, RTI Donor Services
Director - Chandler Brownlee, LifeNet Health of Florida
Director - Corey Bryant, TransLife Tissue Bank
Director - Elizabeth Fout Caraza, Florida Lions Eye Bank
Director - Rebekka McCollom, Medical Eye Bank of Florida
Director - Christina Sanchez Miller, MPH, CEBT, International Sight Restoration
Director - Michele Pablos, UMTB Biomedical, Inc.
Director - Candice Ray, UMTB Donor Services Foundation
Director - Cynthia Smith, Life Alliance Organ Recovery Agency
Director - Jason Woody, Lion’s Eye Institute
TEAM LEADERS
Communications - Kristine Neal, APR, TransLife
Driver License Outreach - Corey Bryant, TransLife Tissue Bank
Phil Van Stavern, LifeQuest Organ Recovery Services
Legislative Affairs - Erin Morton, MA, APR, CPRC, RTI Surgical
Measurement & Data - Nick Waite, RTI Donor Services
Social Media - Coral Denton, LifeQuest Organ Recovery Services
Website Management - Jennifer Krouse, LifeLink Tissue Bank
Visit our website at www.DonateLifeFlorida.org to learn more about our coalition and to register to become
an organ, tissue and eye donor in Florida.
HIGHLIGHTS
• More than 8,588,945 enrollees, an increase of more than 6 percent over 2014
• Ranks second in enrollment amongst all donor registries in the United States
• More than 216,000 Floridians reached through education and outreach
• More than $218,000 in voluntary contributions
• More than 16,000 of Florida’s multicultural community reached through education
and outreach
2015 DHSMV/TAX COLLECTOR EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES AND IN-SERVICES
More than 10,000 individuals who registered or updated their profile indicated that they learned about
the registry through a government or state agency, including through the DHSMV.
• Of new enrollees on Florida’s organ, tissue and eye donor registry, 98 percent enroll through driver license services
2015 HIGHER EDUCATION INITIATIVES
More than 158 individuals who registered or updated their profiles indicated that they learned about the
registry through college campaigns.
• 46 events, campaigns and activities held on campuses
• 4,407 students, staff, faculty and alumni reached with the DLF message
2015 HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION INITIATIVES
More than 248 individuals who registered or updated their profiles indicated that they learned about the registry through high school campaigns.
• 35,216 high school students learned about organ, tissue and eye donation in school
2015 WORKPLACE PARTNER ACTIVITIES
More than 355 individuals who registered or updated their profiles indicated that they learned about the
registry through workplace campaigns.
• 346 workplace events and activities held, including partner enrollment
• 23,899 Floridians reached through the workplace with the DLF message
2015 MULTICULTURAL SPECIFIC ACTIVITIES
More than 269,628 African-American, Asian, Hispanic, American Indian and Pacific Island individuals have
joined the registry this year.
• 70 multicultural activities, events and campaigns implemented
• 16,189 multicultural Floridians reached with the message to Donate Life / Done Vida
2015 GENERAL COMMUNITY RELATIONS ACTIVITIES
More than 995 individuals who registered or updated their profiles indicated that they learned about the
registry through a service club, house of worship or special event.
• 193 community events, activities and presentations
• 67,834 Floridians reached within their social and civic communities
2015 MEDIA OUTREACH
More than 526 individuals who registered or updated their profiles indicated that they learned about the
registry through a media or social media vehicle.
• 48 newspapers, magazines and website placements and articles
• 22 televised broadcast stories and interviews
• 41 radio broadcast stories and interviews
• 263 new Facebook likes
Donate Life Florida
P.O. Box 51772
Sarasota, FL 34232
1-877-FL-SHARE
Fax: 941-906-1556
www.DonateLifeFlorida.org