By DOTTY NIST
With 8.3 million Floridians registered for organ donation, the state has the highest per capita rate for registration in the United States, Phil Van Stavern of LifeQuest Organ Recovery Services told Walton Republican Women Federated (WRWF) members and their guests.
Van Stavern was featured speaker at the club’s Sept. 16 monthly meeting at Cantina Laredo.
A Florida resident for six months, Van Stavern serves as public education coordinator for LifeQuest in the Panhandle. He formerly worked for a similar organization in Oklahoma, for 23 years, he revealed.
In addition to reaching out to high school students to help them make an informed decision about organ donation, Van Stavern works with tax collector’s offices which issue driver’s licenses, with the goal of increasing the number of people who register as organ donors as part of that process. About 95 percent of people who enroll on Florida’s donor registry do so when they obtain or renew their driver’s license.
Organ donation is very personal to Van Stavern, who went into kidney failure in 1986 and received a kidney donated by his brother after being on dialysis for 1 1/2 years. “He saved my life,” Van Stavern said. Because of his brother’s gift, he was able to see his children grow up and know his grandchildren, he commented.
Van Stavern also spoke about the tragic death of his grandson Nick after a farm accident. After his death, Nick became a tissue donor for over 70 people, he told the group. In addition to saving lives, organ donation can help the healing process for families who have lost a loved one, Van Stavern said.
Over 120,000 Americans are on the waiting list for organ transplants in the United States, Van Stavern explained. More than 5,000 of those are in Florida. During 2014, 276 Floridians died while on the waiting list for organs, Van Stavern revealed.
Van Stavern credited the Walton County Tax Collector’s Office as being one of the top organizations in the state for registering organ donors. Brian McBroom, taxpayer services and compliance specialist for the tax collector’s office, confirmed that the office’s organ donation registration rate is currently 70 percent in connection with driver’s license services.
Van Stavern presented Walton County Tax Collector/WRWF member Rhonda Skipper with an plaque honoring her office for the achievement of increasing their organ donation registration rate by 4 percent in 2014.
Information on organ donation, along with online organ donation registration, is available at www.DonateLifeFlorida.org. LifeQuest also offers organ donation registration forms by mail. The organization may be contacted by phone at (850) 478-5854.
The WRWF’s next general meeting is scheduled for Oct. 21 at Cantina Laredo with featured speaker Walton County Clerk of Courts Alex Alford, who is to provide an update on his office.
With 8.3 million Floridians registered for organ donation, the state has the highest per capita rate for registration in the United States, Phil Van Stavern of LifeQuest Organ Recovery Services told Walton Republican Women Federated (WRWF) members and their guests.
Van Stavern was featured speaker at the club’s Sept. 16 monthly meeting at Cantina Laredo.
A Florida resident for six months, Van Stavern serves as public education coordinator for LifeQuest in the Panhandle. He formerly worked for a similar organization in Oklahoma, for 23 years, he revealed.
In addition to reaching out to high school students to help them make an informed decision about organ donation, Van Stavern works with tax collector’s offices which issue driver’s licenses, with the goal of increasing the number of people who register as organ donors as part of that process. About 95 percent of people who enroll on Florida’s donor registry do so when they obtain or renew their driver’s license.
Organ donation is very personal to Van Stavern, who went into kidney failure in 1986 and received a kidney donated by his brother after being on dialysis for 1 1/2 years. “He saved my life,” Van Stavern said. Because of his brother’s gift, he was able to see his children grow up and know his grandchildren, he commented.
Van Stavern also spoke about the tragic death of his grandson Nick after a farm accident. After his death, Nick became a tissue donor for over 70 people, he told the group. In addition to saving lives, organ donation can help the healing process for families who have lost a loved one, Van Stavern said.
Over 120,000 Americans are on the waiting list for organ transplants in the United States, Van Stavern explained. More than 5,000 of those are in Florida. During 2014, 276 Floridians died while on the waiting list for organs, Van Stavern revealed.
Van Stavern credited the Walton County Tax Collector’s Office as being one of the top organizations in the state for registering organ donors. Brian McBroom, taxpayer services and compliance specialist for the tax collector’s office, confirmed that the office’s organ donation registration rate is currently 70 percent in connection with driver’s license services.
Van Stavern presented Walton County Tax Collector/WRWF member Rhonda Skipper with an plaque honoring her office for the achievement of increasing their organ donation registration rate by 4 percent in 2014.
Information on organ donation, along with online organ donation registration, is available at www.DonateLifeFlorida.org. LifeQuest also offers organ donation registration forms by mail. The organization may be contacted by phone at (850) 478-5854.
The WRWF’s next general meeting is scheduled for Oct. 21 at Cantina Laredo with featured speaker Walton County Clerk of Courts Alex Alford, who is to provide an update on his office.