Why you should think about donating organs

Now that you have the facts, you can see that being an organ donor can have a big impact. And your donation helps not just the person getting the organ. By donating your organs and tissue after you die, you can save up to eight lives and improve 75 more. Many families say that knowing their loved one helped others helped them cope with their loss.

Think about being an organ donor if you belong to an ethnic minority group. These include Black Americans, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, Native Americans, and Hispanics. People in these groups are more likely than white people to have certain illnesses that affect the kidneys, heart, lung, pancreas and liver.

Some blood types are more common among minority groups. The blood type of the donor usually needs to match the blood type of the person getting an organ. So the need for minority donor organs is high.