Saturn is sponsoring National Donor Day-those of you who are blood donors (like me) should definitely look into this-combo of cars and blood-can't get any better than that! This could be an event for you club, although no one in SPOC PA wants to give their blood-JERKS-haha-j/k
Saturn families nationwide host National Donor Day on February 14 -- Valentine's Day. "We believe National Donor Day is America's largest one-day lifesaving donation drive," notes Jill Lajdziak, Saturn's Vice President of Sales, Service and Marketing.
"In its first four years, National Donor Day has collected approximately 30,000 units of blood, added over 6,000 potential marrow donors to the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) registry and informed hundreds of thousands of Americans of the critical need for organ and tissue donation."
A "Who's Who" of America's leading donor agencies partner with Saturn and the UAW to conduct National Donor Day. Anyone may visit a Saturn facility and donate or pledge to donate blood, sign an organ and tissue pledge card and either be typed for entry into the NMDP registry or learn how to join the registry.
Despite the efforts of Saturn-UAW and its partner agencies, the need for donors remains very strong. At this very moment, over 75,000 patients await a lifesaving organ transplant and sadly, an average of 16 die each and every day because a suitable donor is not found in time.
The single greatest impediment to donations is lack of dialogue. Checking the box on your driver's license or filling out a pledge card alone is not enough. You must tell your family of your decision to donate, otherwise your wishes may not be carried out.
Regarding the need for marrow donors, approximately 30,000 Americans are diagnosed every year with diseases that may be cured by marrow transplant, and two-thirds of all such patients will require a donor match outside of their immediate family. Regarding blood collection, although 60 percent of all Americans are eligible to give blood, less than five percent do so and the need for blood is particularly critical during the winter months, including February.
National Donor Day is supported by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives have passed resolutions in its support. Perhaps more important, thousands of Saturn employees volunteer each year to make National Donor Day possible.
You do not need to wait for next Valentine's Day to get involved. Contact your local blood bank and you can give blood immediately. For information about marrow donations, visit the National Marrow Donor Program at
www.marrow.org, and to learn more about organ donation, contact the Coalition on Donation at
www.shareyourlife.org.
National Donor Day 
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