SEMO's baseball and softball teams will wear green jerseys as part of their special Donate Life partnership for one game this April.
The Southeast Missouri Department of Athletics and Mid-America Transplant have announced a new partnership aimed at raising awareness about organ, eye and tissue donation while honoring and celebrating organ and tissue donors, donor families, and transplant recipients.
The three-year partnership will be featured in April, which is designated as National Donate Life Month. The partnership is highlighted by two “Green Up” games, one each in baseball and softball season. The baseball “Green Up” game is scheduled for April 21 against OVC-rival Murray State. The softball “Green Up” game is April 14 against Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville. Fans will have the opportunity to learn more about organ, eye and tissue donation and register their decision to be a donor at the “Green Up” games.
“This is an exciting, new partnership for our organization,” Mid-America Transplant President and CEO Diane Brockmeier said. “For years the Cape Girardeau community and the surrounding area have shown exceptional generosity to help others through organ and tissue donation. With the support of the Southeast Missouri Department of Athletics, this partnership will allow us to continue honoring organ and tissue donors, while also educating the public on the lifesaving benefits of donation.”
SEMO Athletics will “Go Green” during the month of April. Baseball, softball, and soccer will have Donate Life-themed uniforms for select games while student-athletes participating in tennis and track and field will have the opportunity to wear Donate Life-themed headbands, wristbands and other accents. The Donate Life shades of green and blue represent ongoing efforts to increase the number of people registered as organ, eye, and tissue donors.
“We are thrilled to partner with Mid-America Transplant for this unique initiative,” Southeast Missouri Director of Athletics Brady Burke said. “Organ and tissue donation is such an important topic, and we are honored to be able to use our athletics platform to help raise awareness in our community.”
Mid-America Transplant is eager to partner with the Southeast Missouri Department of Athletics to raise awareness about organ, eye and tissue donation. More than 115,000 people are currently waiting for a lifesaving organ transplant nationwide after a year in which a record 34,768 organ transplants were performed in the United States. Mid-America Transplant contributed to the 2017 record by facilitating the recovery of an organizational record 718 lifesaving organs from 223 selfless, heroic organ donors.
The Department of Athletics and Mid-America Transplant selected April because of its designation as National Donate Life Month (NDLM). Created in 2003 by Donate Life America, NDLM features an entire month of local, regional and national activities to help encourage Americans to register as organ, eye and tissue donors and to celebrate those that have saved lives through the gift of donation.
About Mid-America Transplant
Mid-America Transplant enables adults and children to receive lifesaving gifts through organ and tissue donations. For more than 40 years, it has facilitated and coordinated organ and tissue donation, and now serves 84 counties covering eastern Missouri, southern Illinois and northeast Arkansas that together are home to 4.7 million people. It saves lives by providing expert and compassionate care for organ and tissue donors, recipients and families, and transforms the clinical processes required to recover and transplant organs and tissues. Mid-America Transplant was the first such organization in the U.S. to use an in-house operating room for organ recovery and pioneered innovative models of increasing donor registry enrollment to provide more organs and tissues to those in need. It is federally designated as one of 58 such organizations in the U.S., and is the first organ procurement organization to be recognized as a recipient of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for Performance Excellence and a three-time recipient of the Missouri Quality Award.