April 17, 2009

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The annual UAB/Alabama Organ Center Celebration of Life Picnic brings together doctors, nurses and other staff with families of organ donors and hundreds of patients who consider UAB their transplant center.

The event will take place Saturday, April 18 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the UAB Mini-Park, located at University Blvd. and 14th Street South.

The picnic will include a short program, a "cheer for life" to recognize the recipients of transplants and their caregivers, photo sessions and a ceremony honoring those who have made possible the precious gift of life. A quilt-pinning ceremony for the Alabama Donor Family Quilt also will take place during the donor recognition ceremony.

On Wednesday, the Alabama State Senate passed a resolution recognizing the picnic and National Donate Life Month. State Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, or Sabra Barnett, the legislative director for the Democratic Caucus, will be at the picnic to present the resolution.

April is National Donate Life Month. It seeks to spotlight the need for more families to be aware of the critical, ongoing need for organ donation. More than 8,100 organ transplant recipients identify UAB as their transplant center. However, there are more than 3,000 people in Alabama still waiting for a lifesaving organ. "We urge families to talk about organ donation. It is an opportunity to give people a second chance at life," said Dem Lalison, AOC director. "One donor can give a heart, liver, lung, kidneys and other organs, and also can help dozens through tissue donation."