Celebrating Diversity in Donation

August is National Multicultural Donor Awareness Month, a time to save and enhance lives in diverse communities by creating a positive culture for organ, eye and tissue donation.

The need for donation is strong in communities of color. Nearly 60% of the national transplant waitlist are individuals from multicultural communities — and more than 50% of organ transplant recipients are people of color.

Nationally, the vast majority of those waiting for the most commonly transplanted organ, the kidney, are people of color, representing 64% of the waitlist.

We have seen increases in the number of deceased organ donors spanning many races over the last four years, including a 94% increase in the American Indian/Alaska Native population.

We look forward to celebrating multicultural donation in August and throughout the year.