The Salukis will “Go Green” this April. Saluki Athletics is excited to partner with Mid-America Transplant on two Green Up Games during National Donate Life Month to raise awareness about organ, eye and tissue donation while honoring and celebrating organ and tissue donors, donor families, and transplant recipients.
The Green Up Games will be held:
- Sunday, April 15: Softball vs. Indiana State
- Tuesday, April 24: Baseball vs. Southeast Missouri State
The three-year partnership will be featured during National Donate Life Month, which highlights local, regional and national activities to help encourage Americans to register as organ, eye and tissue donors and to celebrate those that have saved lives through the gift of donation. At each Green Up Game, fans will have the opportunity to learn more about organ, eye and tissue donation and register their decision to be a donor at the “Green Up” games. Mid-America Transplant is coordinating a pre-game ceremony dedicated to honoring organ and tissue donors.
“This is an exciting, new partnership for our organization,” Mid-America Transplant President and CEO Diane Brockmeier said. “For many years, Carbondale and the communities of southern Illinois have shown remarkable generosity to help others through organ and tissue donation. With the support of the Southern Illinois University Department of Athletics, we will be able to continue honoring organ and tissue donors, while also educating the public on the lifesaving benefits of donation.”
The baseball and softball teams will wear Donate Life-themed uniforms during the Green Up Game. The Donate Life shades of green and blue represent ongoing efforts to increase the number of people registered as organ, eye, and tissue donors.
“This is a cause that is very near and dear to both Jen Sewell and I,” SIU softball head coach Kerri Blaylock said. “We we’re very, very excited to do this. Jenny Jansen, one of our players, her mother donated a kidney to a boy in St. Louis a couple years ago. We all feel like it’s a very important game for a very important cause. We’re definitely glad to do this.”
“We’re happy to use our platform to bring awareness to this important issue,” SIU baseball head coach Ken Henderson said. “Organ donation affects so many people, and we hope these games will raise awareness for the cause and appreciation for donors.”
Mid-America Transplant is eager to partner with the Southern Illinois University Department of Athletics to raise awareness about organ, eye and tissue donation. More than 115,000 people are currently waiting for a lifesaving organ transplant nationwide after a year in which a record 34,768 organ transplants were performed in the United States. Mid-America Transplant contributed to the 2017 record by facilitating the recovery of an organizational record 718 lifesaving organs from 223 selfless, heroic organ donors.
About Mid-America Transplant
Mid-America Transplant enables adults and children to receive lifesaving gifts through organ and tissue donations. For more than 40 years, it has facilitated and coordinated organ and tissue donation, and now serves 84 counties covering eastern Missouri, southern Illinois and northeast Arkansas that together are home to 4.7 million people. It saves lives by providing expert and compassionate care for organ and tissue donors, recipients and families, and transforms the clinical processes required to recover and transplant organs and tissues. Mid-America Transplant was the first such organization in the U.S. to use an in-house operating room for organ recovery and pioneered innovative models of increasing donor registry enrollment to provide more organs and tissues to those in need. It is federally designated as one of 58 such organizations in the U.S., and is the first organ procurement organization to be recognized as a recipient of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for Performance Excellence and a three-time recipient of the Missouri Quality Award.
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