Honorable Joseph Roberti, Chairman of the Mental Health / Public Health / Residential Services Committee has issued a proclamation designating the month of April as "Donate Life Month." On April 8^th, Legislator Roberti will be introducing a resolution for vote allowing county employees donating bone marrow or an organ to receive paid leave time.

The resolution allows for up to seven days paid leave to undergo a medical procedure to donate bone marrow and up to thirty days paid leave to serve as a living organ donor. This leave is in addition to any sick time or vacation time allowed. The organ most commonly donated from living donors is the kidney. Lobes from the lung and liver can also be transplanted from living donors.

The proclamation is in support of raising awareness of the urgent need for organ and tissue donation. Ulster County agencies including the Health Department, Office For Aging, and Stop DWI are partnering with the Center For Donation & Transplant (CDT) to educate the community on the importance of donation and to encourage Ulster County residents to enroll in the New York State Organ and Tissue Registry.

Thousands of people have already recognized the importance of giving the gift of life to others. In 2003, a total of 25,448 organ transplants were performed in the United States. There are currently over half a million New Yorkers registered on the New York State Organ and Tissue Registry.

The need, however, is still enormous. Over 84,000 men, women and children in the United States are waiting for a life-saving transplant, and hundreds of thousands need tissue and corneal transplants each year. Each day, an average of 17 Americans die due to the lack of available organs.

The Center for Donation and Transplant coordinates the retrieval of donor organs and tissue at more than 47 hospitals throughout central and northeastern New York state and western Vermont. CDT ensures that the option of donation is offered to the family in an informative and compassionate manner, and provides long-term support and comfort to families and hospital personnel involved in the donation process.

For more information, please call Lauren Bould, Public Relations Specialist for the Center for Donation and Transplant, at (518) 262-9543 or Stacy Torchio, Health Education Assistant for the Ulster County Health Department, (845) 334-5527.