DONATION Connection
National Donate Life Month
National Donate Life Month (NDLM) is observed in April. Each year, we honor the heroes who have given the gift of life through organ, eye and tissue donation. We also celebrate the lives that have been saved and enhanced through the generosity of donors. Please join us as we raise awareness about donation, encourage people to join the donor registry and honor those who have given the gift of life.
This year’s NDLM theme, Leave a Legacy, features trees as a symbol of life and connection. Just as trees grow and support each other in a forest, the gift of donation connects our community — donors, recipients and their families. Like a tree that stands tall for generations, a donor’s gift leaves a lasting legacy of hope and life. We look forward to celebrating NDLM with our professional and community partners, donor families, volunteer Ambassadors, staff members and beyond.
National Donate Life Month Blue & Green Spirit Week is a fun and meaningful way to show your support for organ, eye and tissue donation. Participate in all the themed days or jump in as your schedule allows — and don’t forget to tag us on social media so we can share the love!
MTN Spotlight: Tissue Services Team
Midwest Transplant Network is proud to highlight an outstanding achievement within the organization. The Tissue Services team was honored by LifeNet Health as winners of the notable ARTEMIS award for Pediatric Performance, part of the broader 2025 Partnership Excellence Awards. These awards celebrate the extraordinary individuals and teams whose expertise and dedication transform tissue donations into lifesaving and life-enhancing gifts.
MTN’s Tissue Services team was recognized by LifeNet Health for its excellence in pediatric heart valve recovery. As winners of the ARTEMIS award, the Tissue Services team was celebrated for their expertise in pediatric tissue recovery, ensuring lifesaving grafts for the youngest patients.
Melissa Williams, MSW, CEBT, CTBS, Director of Tissue Services, describes how the award “signifies excellence and commitment to providing pediatric heart valves for transplant patients. MTN is committed to always doing its very best to recover these critical tissues with precision.”
This prestigious award was accompanied by a traveling trophy belt that is currently featured in the MTN tissue lounge. As the recipients of MTN’s first trophy belt, Williams and the team were thrilled to receive the honor. “Pediatric tissue recoveries are complex and require a delicate hand. Knowing that we are doing an excellent job means so much.”
The MTN Tissue Services team was also recognized by Evergen Donor Services for an extraordinary milestone. Evergen leaders presented Midwest Transplant Network with a custom piece of artwork commemorating the tissue recovery of our 10,000th donor hero entrusted to Evergen since 2009. The artwork, Forged in Life by Michael Leaf, features the
state trees of Kansas and Missouri to symbolize unity and a shared legacy of compassion, service and life-changing impact made possible through tissue donation.
This recognition belongs to our dedicated team, our partners at Evergen, and most importantly, the donor heroes and families who make this work possible. Together, we will continue to improve and enhance the lives of patients in need of tissue transplantation around the world. 2
Donate Life Legacy Walk
Save the date! Midwest Transplant Network will host the Donate Life Legacy Walk on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026, at the National WWI Museum and Memorial in Kansas City, Mo.
This free community event is a time to celebrate and remember the power of organ, eye and tissue donation. It brings together donor hero families, transplant recipients, living donors, hospital partners and the countless people whose lives have been touched by donation.
The evening will feature live music, food trucks with snacks available for purchase, Tribute Trail signs honoring donor heroes and transplant warriors, a bubble remembrance ceremony and, most importantly, the opportunity for families to come together and make new memories.
What’s new in 2026? We’re moving the Legacy Walk to the fall in support of our partners at the National WWI Museum and Memorial and the incredible opportunity for Kansas City to host the FIFA World Cup™.
Follow our social media channels for registration and tribute trail information coming in late April.
Read more and view photos: mwtn.org/legacy-walk
Jan Finn Announces Retirement
Jan Finn, RN, BSN, MSN, President and Chief Executive Officer, will retire from Midwest Transplant Network after a distinguished 35-year career in organ, eye and tissue donation.
Jan’s career began as a critical care nurse and evolved into leadership roles where she helped MTN become a national leader in organ procurement. She is most proud of her dedication to caring for others. Jan is honored to have helped MTN grow into a national leader among OPOs, fostering a culture of support, professionalism and high expectations.
“My work began as an RN, knowing I wanted to help others, but never realizing the impact that was possible with a dedicated and amazing support team,” Jan wrote in a letter to MTN staff.
“We’ve saved lives, given hope to those whose very lives depended on us and provided comfort to our donor families. I will always cherish the accomplishments and celebrations of leading the donation and transplantation community.”
Jan’s decision to retire came after careful reflection. She describes it as “bittersweet given the joy and support I’ve experienced in my career.” She is confident in MTN’s future and believes challenges will be met with a commitment to improvement and life-saving strategies.
“My professional life has been second only to the happiness and pride brought to me by my family. I’m looking forward to personal pursuits, learning new things and having free time.”
Jan Finn’s retirement is effective July 3, 2026.
Read Jan’s full retirement announcement: mwtn.org/finn-retires
Hospital Partner Education
About This Newsletter
This insert is intended for clinical staff and not for the general public. Please post in a highly visible clinical area such as a break room.
Family Readiness Assessment Tool
Working at the bedside, you are often the first to notice the subtle, pivotal moments when a family’s perspective begins to shift. Using the Family Readiness Assessment Tool (FRAT) helps you turn these observations into a coordinated plan with Midwest Transplant Network. To ensure we provide the best support, please remember that these key updates should be called to MTN right away.
What to Look For:
Recognizing the signs early ensures families receive support at the right time. It also helps prevent delays in extubation while waiting for MTN staff to arrive on-site.
• Signs of Acceptance: Listen for phrases that signal the family recognizes the injury is non-survivable, such as “They wouldn’t want to live like this,” or “We don’t want them to suffer anymore.”
Contact Us
For more information or questions, call 913-262-1668, email info@mwtn.org or visit mwtn.org By the
Numbers
• Shift in Goals of Care: Call to give an update if the family decides not to escalate treatment, requests a DNR or begins asking “What happens next?”
• End-of-Life Planning: Look for next step behaviors, like discussing funeral arrangements, asking what it looks like to remove the ventilator, or waiting for specific relatives to arrive and say goodbye.
• Care Plan Changes: If the physician’s care plan is exhausted and comfort care is presented as an option, it is a critical time to update MTN.
Identifying Red Flags
It is just as important to note red flags during your assessment. Promptly sharing details regarding blame, anger, distrust or family members who are clearly not aligned helps our team approach the family with enhanced sensitivity.
Early communication reduces frustration and provides clarity for the family. Your eyes and ears on the floor are what make the gift of organ donation possible.
Normothermic Regional Perfusion Recap: Impact Through Partnership
Normothermic Regional Perfusion (NRP) continues to demonstrate meaningful impact across our region, made possible through the close collaboration between Midwest Transplant Network and our hospital partners. Together, we are turning innovation into lives saved.
In 2025, MTN facilitated 101 NRP cases across 26 hospitals, reflecting a strong and growing commitment to this advanced surgical recovery method used in Donation After Circulatory Death (DCD) cases. Most of these cases were Abdominal NRP (A-NRP) (90 cases) with Thoracoabdominal NRP (TA-NRP) accounting for 11 cases.
These efforts have resulted in 250 organs transplanted. This includes:
• 148 kidneys
• 56 livers
• 27 lungs
• 17 hearts
• 2 pancreata
Organ utilization rates speak to the quality of recovery made possible through NRP:
• Heart utilization reached 94.4%
• Kidney utilization reached 77.5%
• Lung utilization reached 65.9%
• Liver utilization reached 62.2%
NRP is improving transplant success and strengthening local impact. Sixty-eight organs stayed within our local area to serve patients in our own communities, including 52 kidneys, 12 livers, and 4 hearts. This success is only possible because of the precision, coordination and partnership demonstrated by hospital teams.
MTN and our hospital partners are advancing donation practice, improving outcomes and bringing hope to more patients waiting for a lifesaving transplant.
Celebrating National Donate Life Month
How Hospitals Can Honor the Gift of Life
Each April, National Donate Life Month (NDLM) provides hospitals with a valuable opportunity to honor donor heroes, support donor families and inspire communities to register as organ, eye and tissue donors. It’s a chance to celebrate the lifesaving impact of donation, and it serves as an invitation for hospitals to engage staff, patients and visitors in uplifting, mission driven activities.
One of the most recognizable ways hospitals participate is through flag raising ceremonies, a powerful visual reminder of the heroes who have given the gift of life. Many hospitals hold brief gatherings as the Donate Life flag is raised, offering space for reflection, gratitude and recognition of donor families.
Donor awareness tables are another interactive way to celebrate NDLM, featuring educational materials, registration opportunities and conversations that encourage meaningful dialogue about donation.
Hospitals may also invite staff and visitors to share personal motivations through “I’m a register donor because…” signs, fostering openness and highlighting individual reasons for supporting donation.
Many partners enhance their celebrations with creative and meaningful additions such as rock painting tables and photo booths. Some hospitals also host donation focused seminars that offer education sessions for staff. Others organize Donate Life T shirt sales, giving supporters a visible and unified way to promote the cause throughout the month.
Finally, numerous hospitals hold celebration of life events to honor donor families and reflect on the transformative effect donation has on recipients and the community. These gatherings create space for storytelling, healing and remembrance.
By embracing these activities, our hospital partners play a vital role in elevating awareness and honoring those who make donation possible every day and throughout National Donate Life Month.
National Donate Life Month Decorating Contest
In case you missed the most recent e-newsletter sent to all license, treasury and tag office partners, we are excited to provide each office with paper leaves that will hopefully help in kicking off the creative process for the National Donate Life Month (NDLM) decorating contest.
While we typically vote via social media, this year we will have staff at Midwest Transplant Network vote on the winners. As in previous years, voting will be separated into categories of large offices (serving populations over 50,000) and small offices (serving populations under 50,000). Each office will have until Friday, April 10, at 11:59 p.m. to submit pictures via email to Jessica Cleary, Donor Designation Coordinator, at jcleary@mwtn.org or send pictures via text to 913-415-8985. MTN will announce the winners on Friday, April 17. Winners will receive a treat and the coveted Hope the Otter traveling trophy. We look forward to seeing what you all come up with!
Blue & Green Spirit Week
April is National Donate Life Month, and we invite you all to join us in participating in Donate Life Blue & Green Spirit Week activities. Please share pictures of you and your office taking part in various NDLM activities via the Facebook group, You Are Key at the DMV, or by emailing Jessica Cleary, Donor Designation Coordinator, at jcleary@mwtn.org . We look forward to seeing your photos!
Tabling Opportunities During National Donate Life Month
National Donate Life Month is a great opportunity to spread awareness and education about organ, eye and tissue donation. If you would like to have a table set up at your license, treasury, or DMV office, please reach out to us at communityeducation@mwtn.org to get scheduled in April.
You Are Key at the DMV Facebook Group
There has been interest in reinvigorating the “You Are Key at the DMV” Facebook Group. We are thrilled to offer another way to communicate with you all and highlight the amazing things you do! If you would like to join the group, visit Facebook and search “You Are Key.” The group should be listed at the top of the search results. To become a member, simply let us know the location of your license, treasury or DMV office, and we will add you to the group. We look forward to seeing increased engagement online!
Request to join the Facebook group: facebook.com/groups/YouAreKey
Question of the Quarter: How do I get donation-related materials sent to my office?
It is important to us that your offices have everything you need so your employees and customers can feel informed about organ, eye and tissue donation. While we do send supplies for National Donate Life Month, if at any time you would like to order more, please visit mwtn.org/dmv. At the bottom of the page is a Supply Request form. Fill that out, and we will get materials sent to you at our earliest convenience. We hope this streamlines the process for you!
If you have a question that you would like answered in Question of the Quarter, please reach out to Jessica Cleary, Donor Designation Coordinator, at jcleary@mwtn.org .
Request MTN materials: mwtn.org/dmv
Mission
Saving lives by honoring the gift of donation with dignity and compassion
Vision
Leading organ and tissue donation through excellence, quality and partnerships
Contact Us
For more information or questions, call 913-262-1668 or visit mwtn.org
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Midwest Transplant Network
Upcoming Events Event Audience Key
General MTN
Hospital Partners
Licensing, Treasury and Department of Revenue Partners
View all upcoming events: mwtn.org/events
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April
April 1-30 • National Donate Life Month
Observed in April each year, National Donate Life Month helps raise awareness about donation, encourages Americans to register as organ, eye and tissue donors and honors those who have saved lives through the gift of donation.
For more information: mwtn.org/ndlm
April 10 • National Donate Life Blue & Green Day
Wear blue and green and share the message of Donate Life and the importance of joining the organ, eye and tissue donor registry.
For more information: donatelife.net/blue-green-day
April 19-25 • National Pediatric Transplant Week
As part of National Donate Life Month, this initiative honors donor hero families, shares stories of young recipients, and focuses on reducing the 2,000+ children currently on the waiting list.
For more information: donatelife.net/pediatric-transplant-week
September
Sept. 12 • Donate Life Legacy Walk
Join us for a free community event to celebrate the gift of organ, eye and tissue donation with a Tribute Trail, food trucks, live music, a bubble remembrance ceremony, lawn games and more. Registration opens in April.
For more information: mwtn.org/legacy-walk