Spreading Organ Donor Awareness Via Facebook
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- You can now let your friends on Facebook know if you're an organ donor. The change should help the chances of thousands of people waiting for an organ.
Twin Cities based LifeSource says there's always a need for donors. In March, there were 3,229 people in the region that includes Minnesota waiting for an organ.
Facebook wanted to make a difference after disasters such as last year's earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
A statement from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg reads, "By simply telling people that you're an organ donor, the power of sharing and connecting can play an important role."
The announcement is great news for the cause.
"Social media is a powerful way to tell our life stories, and organ donation, and the commitment to be a donor is an important thing to share," said LifeSource CEO Susan Gunderson. "To be able to do that through such a powerful medium is a huge difference and will get the message out for people to become organ, tissue and eye donors."
LifeSource helped 526 people in 2011 with a transplant.
You can let people know you're a donor by updating your status on Facebook. It's similar to updating your relationship status. You can update your donor status as a "life event," and then choose "health and wellness" and then choose "organ donor."
