National Minority Donor Awareness Month
Increasing access to life-saving transplants by promoting organ donation awareness and addressing disparities in minority communities.
Partner with healthcare systems and community organizations to drive organ donor registration among underrepresented minorities through culturally-targeted education and trusted local voices.
- Share donor registration success stories from minority communities to normalize and destigmatize organ donation
- Create educational infographics addressing myths about organ donation in African American, Latino, Asian/Pacific Islander, and Native American communities
- Host virtual or in-person community forums with transplant survivors and medical professionals to build trust and answer donation questions
- Highlight the life-saving impact: 100,000+ people waiting for transplants—each donor can save multiple lives
National Minority Donor Awareness Month has roots with an earlier observance called National Minority Donor Awareness Week. This original event was first celebrated in 1996, founded through the efforts of the National Minority Organ Tissue Transplant Education Program (MOTTEP). The purpose of the event was to shine a light on and improve education about donation and transplantation to multicultural communities in the United States.
With the hopes of saving minority lives and also improving the quality of life of minority populations through a positive culture of donation, this annual event is now organized through efforts of the National (Organ, Eye and Tissue Donation) Multicultural Action Group (NMAG). This is a collaborative group that includes many different non-profit organizations and other associations including:
Sign Up for Organ Donation
One of the easiest ways to participate in National Minority Donor Awareness Month is to look into becoming an organ donor. Check out the resources and information found on the Donate Life website to get started, providing answers to questions and a better understanding of what the process means for the many different types of donations. With more than 100,000 people waiting for lifesaving transplants, each person who adds their name to a donor registry takes steps to saving not only one life, but possibly multiple lives. It’s easy for most adults to sign up to be a donor through their local DMV. Or check out the Donate Life Registry or Living Donor Registry for more information. In addition, be sure to share this with your close family members who can validate your wishes if the need arises. Learn More About Donation Getting the public to be more informed about organ and tissue donation is one of the most important goals of National Minority Donor Awareness Month. Those with influence in their minority communities, including African American, Latino, Asian/Pacific Islander, and Native American, can learn more and share with others in celebration of this event.Consider and share some of these important facts about life-saving donations from the United Network for Organ Sharing:Ethical and fair distribution of organs and determined through a national database that considers factors such as medical urgency, type matches, organ size, geographic location and morePeople with different medical histories and of all ages should consider organ donationMost major religions do not prohibit organ donationThe United States has performed more organ donations than any other country, saving tens of thousands of lives each year