The Summit will take place in Lexington on April 25 (LEXINGTON – March 12, 2019) – The “Gift of Life” Summit event will be held on Thursday, April 25, in Lexington, Ky., at the Embassy Suites. The Summit celebrates saving lives through organ donation and healing lives through tissue donation. “This is a brand-new opportunity for KODA and TFL to meet and greet with hospital partners, Circuit Clerks, Coroners, volunteers from around our service area,” said Shelley Snyder, KODA’s Vice…

Donate Life Kentucky is excited to announce Kentucky Senate Bill 77 passed unanimously in the House Committee for Health and Family Services. This groundbreaking bill will amend KRS 311.1947 to expand organ donor registration to the Commonwealth’s single sign-on system and will become effective January 1, 2020. KODA and Trust For Life have worked extensively with Senator Julie Raque Adams on this bill to grow the Donor Registry.  The new 8-year Kentucky driver’s license impact on the registry had put…

February is American Heart Month and I want to share a special firsthand account as a parent of a very young donor recipient. My little girl’s whose life was forever changed thanks to a heartfelt donation. “I am writing to share the story of my daughter Eleanor, who is alive today because of an organ donor.She was born with multiple congenital heart defects. A team of doctors determined that her only option was a heart transplant. At 10 days old,…

February 14th is National Donor Day, which aims to serve as a reminder of the importance of discussing the lifesaving possibilities of organ and tissue donation.  Thanks to the Circuit Court Clerks of Kentucky, showing the heart on your driver’s license is the perfect way to start a conversation about love and legacy. Melissa Cardwell, Butler Co. Circuit Court Clerk said, “We encourage everyone to use National Donor Day to discuss organ donation with those closest to you.  Joining the…

(Louisville, KY, Jan. 16, 2019):   Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates (KODA) had a record-setting year in 2018 saving more lives and giving more individuals the gift of living longer.  The organ procurement organization cared for 134 organ donors resulting in 423 organs transplanted.  These were the highest numbers of organ donors and organs transplanted in KODA’s 32-year history. Also, more than 30,000 lives were enhanced by the generosity of the 367 tissue donors.  An additional 1,000 patients have gained the gift…

Last month, one of our beloved Ambassadors, Alyssa LaRosa, passed away. She was stylish, thoughtful and had a social media presence that was unparalleled. Every chance she could, she was promoting the mission of organ donation and encouraging/educating others to become registered donors. She was a registered donor, then became a tissue and cornea donor at her passing. She thought of it as a way to pay it forward. Alyssa’s brother, Tré, wanted to share his thoughts on his sister and…

Currently, there are 116,000+ men, women and children waiting for a lifesaving organ transplant in the U.S.  Every day 22 people die waiting with someone new added to the organ donor list every 10 minutes. One of those is Courtney, and this is her story. My name is Courtney Thompson, I’m 23 years old and on the waiting list for a double lung transplant. I have Cystic Fibrosis, a progressive genetic lung disease, and to beat it I’ll need a…

It’s been awhile since we’ve posted, but this letter from one of our wonderful Donate Life Ambassadors celebrating their donor is too good not to share on this holiday celebrating love. Dear Valentine in Heaven, I look at this picture and see silly handshakes, goofy dance moves, a shared love of Rocky and cheese curls, and inside jokes that I will never understand. But, I also see a side to each of them that wouldn’t exist without the other. I…

I’m going to die… One day, hopefully not anytime soon. When I do, I hope I have the opportunity to be an organ, eye and tissue donor. This is exactly what I’ve been telling people when they ask me about my job. Now that I’ve gotten you to read this far, let me introduce myself. My name is Crysta and I work for Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates (KODA) as a Community Educator. The past 6 months have been nothing short…