Shippensburg University’s Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) chapter took part in Donate Life Pennsylvania’s Organ Registration Challenge on Wednesday afternoon.
This was the first year PRSSA participated in the challenge, according to senior Carly Erisman. SU student Andrew Haldenan took charge of the event to make people more aware of the need for organ donors.
“Our goal is to generally increase awareness for organ donation,” Haldenan said.
There are many stigmas around being an organ donor, including not being saved in an emergency, but this stigma is not true, he said. Some people believe that because they are not healthy, their organs will not be useful. This is also not true, and it is up to doctors to decide what organs are useful, Erisman said.
The event featured a corn hole game for students to learn more about why organ donation is important. Green ribbons were also given to organ donors.
More than 118,000 people are waiting for an organ transplant, and 4,000 new candidates are added to that list every month, according to Erisman.
Anyone with a valid driver’s license or photo ID can register to be an organ donor through PennDOT’s online portal.
“Just by registering you have the option to save someone’s life,” Erisman said.
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