Advocates for organ donation celebrated last year’s donors with a flag raising ceremony Tuesday at Carle Health Methodist Hospital in Peoria.
Chief Nursing Officer Jill Dodaro said the hospital had seven organ donors provide eight separate organs in 2024. The hospital system had 27 tissue donors across locations in Peoria and Pekin last year.
The year surpassed the 25 total donors in 2023.
“The urgent need for organ and tissue donation persists,” said Dodaro. “Over 103,000 people across the United States are waiting for a lifesaving transplant. Tragically, every eight minutes, another person joins the wait list.”
The medical system is a partner of the Gift of Hope Organ and Tissue network, a federally designated not-for-profit that coordinates organ and tissue donation in parts of Illinois and Indiana.
“We’re going to bring awareness to the need of all the people waiting for a lifesaving gift versus the people that have signed up to be a donor,” said Andrea Taylor, a Gift of Hope donation liaison.
Taylor said bridging the gap comes by encouraging as many people as possible to sign up for donations both with the state and a network like Gift of Hope. The organization also platforms stories like that of Devereaux Hubbard, the pastor of St. Paul Baptist Church in Peoria.
“Unfortunately, [our experience with organ and tissue donation] occurred as a result of the death of our 19-year old son, but the staff from the hospital at that moment were kind and compassionate,” said Hubbard. “The staff from the Donate Life organization were kind and compassionate, walking us through, helping us to understand what it was we were doing and what we were committing to.”
Hubbard’s son, Deveraux Hubbard II, died from a blood clot that became a pulmonary embolism. Hubbard said his son’s corneas were donated for transplant.
“It improved somebody’s sight immediately, so that changes their perspective on life,” he said. “It encourages them to know that people are concerned, even in death, that somebody would give them that gift.”
Hubbard said he was inspired to continue speaking about his family’s experience with organ donation by the follow-up from the agencies involved. He got updates on where the donation went, how the person benefited and frequent expressions of appreciation for the donation.
April also is National Donate Life month through the organization Donate Life America. More information on organ donation is available here.
