All my love on Organ Donation Day

I just learned belatedly that I have the best reason ever for no longer hating Valentine's Day. February 14, it turns out, is Organ Donation Day! So to all of you, my love and big candy hearts!

Even sweeter, I'll wrap up some interesting links for you in a nice red bow:

The International Association for Organ Donation is having its annual gala and convention on April 19-20 in Detroit. This organization's goal is to promote organ donation registry, with a focus on U.S. minority ethnic communities that are most in need of organs -- Arab/Chaldean, African, Asian and Hispanic American communities. According to IAOD's Web site, it is second only to the Secretary of State in enrolling organ donors to the State [MI] registry.

Another interesting link I've (unbelievably) just discovered is www.organdonor.gov, which offers "access to U.S. government information on Organ & Tissue Donation and Transplantation." Well, then! Like the IAOD above, the site recognizes and calls out our specific shortage of minority donors. I'll add it to the permalinks at right.

Seeking a donor or want to donate? Try this...

In looking for ideas to pass to Mina (see post below), I came across a site called MatchingDonors.com, which, as the name obviously suggests, aims to match people who need a live donor with people who are altruistically willing to donate an organ to a stranger. After reviewing it thoroughly (it appears not only legitimate, but rather awe-inspiring and professional), I am adding a perma-link to the resources section at right.

[UPDATE 7 February '07:] With further exploration I learned that this site charges would-be recipients a large sum ($600 ) to post an "organ wanted" listing on the site. I was prepared to blog about that -- as a business student and strategist it irks me that MatchingDonors' business model (as a non-profit, no less) relies upon the people it is serving to pay for its operating expenses. But then I read the comment from Angie, who pointed out that Medicare may cover the listing costs and also that the organization can work with people who can't afford the hefty fee. I'm not sure how I feel about the concept, frankly, but as always I'm here to keep everyone as informed as I can, and let you judge for yourselves. Thanks for the comments, Angie!