Donate Life California Starts 2016 with New President
SAN DIEGO, Calif., Jan. 20, 2016 – Monica Johnson has been elected to a two-year term as President of the Board of Directors of Donate Life California, which administers the nation’s largest registry of organ, eye and tissue donors.
Donate Life California was established in 2004 to oversee a computer database on which people register their decision to be organ, eye and tissue donors. Since then, more than 12.8 million people have added their names on the registry as potential donors; 95 percent have done so through the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and have a pink “DONOR” dot on their driver license or ID card.
Johnson has served on the Donate Life California board since 2011. She is the Executive Director of Sierra Donor Services, the nonprofit organ, eye and tissue donor recovery agency serving nearly four million people in Northern California and Nevada.
“It’s my honor and privilege to serve California as the President of the Board for Donate Life California,” said Johnson. “The California state donor registry continues to be the largest registry in the country at nearly 13 million and we’ll continue to pursue efforts to increase the numbers on the registry. Nearly 20 percent of the national organ transplant waiting list resides in California and we have an obligation and the opportunity to help save and heal the lives of thousands who wait. With the generosity of the diverse communities we serve, we can make this a reality.”
Sierra Donor Services and three other federally-designated nonprofits in the state, Donor Network West, Lifesharing and OneLegacy, support families giving the gift of life as well as provide public education about donation. The Donate Life California board includes representatives from each of the four organizations.
Johnson has been in the organ donation and transplantation field for nearly 25 years. Before becoming Executive Director of Sierra Donor Services, she held leadership positions at Pacific Northwest Transplant Bank in Portland, Oregon and LifeCenter Northwest in Bellevue, Washington. Johnson is a registered nurse and holds an MS in Management from Antioch University in Seattle, WA and earned her BS in Social and Behavioral Sciences from Linfield College in McMinnville, OR.
Californians can register to be donors by checking “YES!” at the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) or by signing up at www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org.
Fast Facts from Donate Life California:
- One in five on the national organ transplant waiting list (121,675) lives in California.
- More than 29,000 people in the U.S. begin new lives each year thanks to organ transplants (about 81 transplants every day).
- 22 people die each day because the life-saving organ they needed did not become available in time.
About Donate Life California:
Donate Life California is the nonprofit, state-authorized organ, eye and tissue donor registry. Individuals can add their name to the registry by checking “YES!” every time they renew/apply for their driver license or ID card at the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). This ensures their desire to donate life will be carried out. A pink “DONOR” dot is added to their driver license or ID as a symbol of their decision. Individuals can also sign up online at www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org or www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org. As a public service, the registry ensures all personal information is kept confidential and stored in a secure database, accessible only to authorized organ and tissue recovery personnel at the time of an actual donation opportunity. The registry is administered by Donate Life California and California’s four nonprofit, federally designated organ procurement organizations (OPOs): Donor Network West, Lifesharing, OneLegacy and Sierra Donor Services.
Media Contact: Brianne Mundy Page, 858-220-8351, brianne@donateLIFEcalifornia.org
