College becomes community sponsor, promotes BC Transplant's Organ Donor Registry
Vancouver, BC - April 19, 2010 - More than 300 British Columbians are currently waiting for an organ transplant and a chronic shortage of available organs in the province means many of them will die waiting. BC Transplant is promoting Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Week from April 18-25, 2010 and Vancouver Career College has signed on as a community sponsor to encourage more British Columbians to sign up online to become organ donors.
BC Transplant aims to promote organ donor awareness in BC and encourage more citizens to make a decision about organ donation. Vancouver Career College joins a list of other community sponsors such as London Drugs, BC Biomedical Laboratories, Pacific Blue Cross and Scotiabank in helping to promote the campaign.
"Part of our job as career educators is to inspire our students to be the best they can be," says Larry Heinzlmeir, VP of Marketing for Vancouver Career College. "As a community sponsor of BC Transplant's Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Week, we want to inspire and inform not only people at our campuses but also those in the surrounding communities."
More than 4,850 transplants have been performed in BC since 1968. While survival rates for transplant patients have continued to improve, only a small percentage of suitable organs are available. Moreover, some organs that could be available for transplant are lost because families may not be aware of their loved one's choice to be a donor.
To register as an organ donor or to learn more about organ donation, visit BC Transplant at www.transplant.bc.ca.
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