In September 1995, Boyd Fulton, 1995-96 governor of District 6760 (Tennessee, USA), read about the national organ-donor shortage in The Rotarian and decided that Rotarians in the Volunteer State should get involved.

A member of the Rotary Club of Green Hills - Nashville, Boyd rallied support throughout the district for a new awareness project called Share Your Life. Similar initiatives were underway with Rotarians in Florida, Texas, and California, where District 5280 had launched the Give of yourself awareness program in 1993.

By 1997, it was clear that maximum impact could be achieved through collaboration. The resulting coalition, the Share Your Life-Give of Yourself program, now chaired by Fulton and headquartered in Nashville, maintains a constant presence at Rotary zone institutes, district and multidistrict conferences, and presidents-elect training seminars (reaching about 2,000 incoming club presidents last year).

"Rotary and organ/tissue donation is a perfect match, and we are advancing the cause in every way we can," Fulton says.

The program asks every Rotary club to initiate a public awareness project under the Share Your Life-Give of Yourself mantle and provides support materials - including manuals, background information, sample press releases, and educational videos - to help clubs get started.

The national committee that governs the program includes, in addition to Fulton: Jon Eiche, District 5890 governor and president and CEO of The Living Bank, a donor registry in Houston; Lawrence Cochran, executive director of Tennessee Donor Services; Roger MacDonald, past District 6940 governor and a donor recipient; Bill Bowermaster, past District 5280 governor; Green Hills Rotarian Tom Meredith, whose family has both donated and received transplant organs; Green Hills Rotarian Jeff Pennington, a physician and donor recipient; Ernest and Scharleen Colant, members of the Rotary Club of San Francisco and donor parents; and John Lee, executive director of DCI Donor Services, Nashville. Honorary chairman is U.S. Sen. Bill Frist, an experienced transplant surgeon and a member of the Rotary Club of Nashville.

Share Your Life - Give of Yourself works closely with The Living Bank, which maintains a registry of more than 1.2 million donors worldwide. The program has been particularly active in Mexico since the 2001 RI Convention in San Antonio. For example, with the participation of Past RI President Frank Devlyn and his brother Jesse Devlyn, past District 4170 governor, plans are underway to equip and open a 3,000 Square-foot cornea transplant facility.

Article from "THE ROTARIAN - April 2003" magazine.

Rotarians unite to promote organ donation ―BETH MATTER