Program hopes to increase donations while honoring others

A rose representing Nathan Littauer’s supporting organ donation sat on this float

Gloversville, NY… In 2010, Nathan Littauer Hospital is partnering with the Center for Donation & Transplant (CDT) to honor patients and their families that choose to give the gift of life through organ or tissue donation. Nathan Littauer will recognize its organ and tissue donors by flying a Donate Life Flag in their honor each time a donation is facilitated at the hospital in 2010. After the flag has been flown it will be given to the donor’s family in memory of their loved one, as part of an aftercare packet designed to help families cope with their grief. Nathan Littauer will also fly the flag during National Donate Life Month in April to help raise awareness of the life-saving benefits of organ and tissue donation. “I am thrilled that Nathan Littauer Hospital is recognizing the life-saving benefits of organ and tissue donation by flying the Donate Life Flag in honor of their donors,” said Jeffrey Orlowski, Chief Executive Officer of CDT. “The flags provide awareness of the importance of donation and also serve as a symbol of respect for those who have given the gift the life. The families of our donors find it very meaningful to receive the flag in recognition of their loved one.”

This is the first year Nathan Littauer has participated in the program. “This is such a worthy endeavor” stated Nathan Littauer’s CEO and President Laurence E. Kelly. He added, “I hope our efforts here today spark conversations among families about the importance of organ and tissue donation.”

To thank Nathan Littauer Hospital’s for its support of CDT’s mission, CDT has dedicated a rose in honor of Nathan Littauer Hospital’s donors that was placed on the Donate Life Float in the 2010 Rose Parade. 2010 marks the seventh year that the donation and transplant community has participated in the Rose Parade through the Donate Life Float, which is designed to inspire more than 30 million U.S. television viewers to give the gift of life. Nathan Littauer’s dedicated rose joined hundreds of others from across the nation to create a living memorial called the “Family Circle Garden” that was incorporated into the float. For more information about the Donate Life Float, or to read Nathan Littauer’s rose dedication, visit the Donate Life Float website at www.donatelifefloat.org.

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The Center for Donation & Transplant is the federally designated non-profit organization that coordinates the retrieval of donated organs and tissues at 46 hospitals throughout western Vermont and northeastern New York State.

Nathan Littauer’s Family of Health Services serves Hamilton, Fulton and Montgomery counties with a 74- bed regional hospital, eight primary care centers and a nursing home. The hospital recently opened a new state-of-the-art Birthing Center. To learn more about Nathan Littauer, please visit www.nlh.org.