Donor Network West Releases National Donor Day Video On Social Media
February 14th is National Donor Day- #WillYou be my Donor?
(San Ramon, CA) February 14, 2019 – Today, millions of people around the world will celebrate Valentine’s Day, but February 14 is also National Donor Day; during which individuals and organizations across the United States highlight how organ donation saves lives.
Reagan, a 20-month-old girl from Walnut Creek with a congenital heart condition, waits for a heart transplant at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital. Donor Network West, the organ and tissue recovery organization for Northern California and Nevada has posted a short video about her on its social media channels. In the video, Reagan’s father, Mark, discusses what he hopes for his daughter’s future if she gets a transplant. He asks those watching “Will You?” Will you give hope to Reagan and those waiting by registering as an organ donor?
The concept of the video was the result of a social media hackathon competition hosted by Donor Network West at its San Ramon office last fall in partnership with Brightsource, a student run organization focused high school group. At the one-day event, 40 high school students in 14 teams competed by pitching social media marketing ideas to help Donor Network West better engage the youth about organ and tissue donation. The winning team, comprised of three students from Dougherty Valley High School in San Ramon, have been working with Donor Network West for three months to develop a viral social media project to encourage more donor registrations and in the end, to save more lives.
The students – Ishan Sethi (16), Anay Roge (16), and David Zhi LuoZhang (15) researched which kind of posts are more engaging and helped develop a database of social media influencers. The resulting video – #WillYou Be my Donor? – was filmed by Reagan’s father and also features her mother, Johnette, and older sister, Nettie. Donor Network West encourages everyone to share the video and use #WillYou as a hashtag.
More than 10,000 people wait for a life-saving organ transplant in Donor Network West’s service area of 45 counties in Northern California and Nevada. One organ donor can save the lives of up to eight people and a tissue donor can heal 75 others. Anyone can register as a donor at DonorNetworkWest.org or at the DMV.
Donor Network West saves and heals lives by facilitating organ and tissue recovery for transplantation and research. Established in 1987, Donor Network West is designated and certified by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, accredited by the American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB), is a member of the Organ Donation Alliance and is an official Donate Life organization. Donor Network West is federally designated to serve 45 counties in northern California and northern Nevada, Donor Network West partners with the Department of Motor Vehicles and the state-authorized donor registries to help increase donor registration. For information, visit www.DonorNetworkWest.org and follow us on social media: @mydnwest.
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