County residents help with organ donation

Carter County residents donated more than $700 to help increase awareness about organ donation in the year 2001. Those that gave a dollar to the Tennessee County Clerks Organ Donor Awareness Foundation's "Help Renew Lives" campaign at the time they renewed tags or registered a vehicle enabled the county to achieve their best year yet in donations.
   A group of Tennessee County Clerks wanting to do something to help thousands of Tennesseans awaiting organ transplants established the Foundation in 1996. More than $208,000 was collected statewide in 2001 to help expand organ donation awareness efforts.
   Carter County Clerk Mary Gouge and her staff are strong advocates of the "Help Renew Lives" efforts. In addition to participating in the program, the office makes organ and tissue donation information available to customers.
   In Tennessee, over 1,500 people are currently on waiting lists for life-saving organ transplants. Nationally, more than 79,000 people are waiting for a donated organ to become available. For more information about organ and tissue donation, contact the Carter County Clerks office at (423) 542-1816 or Mountain Region Donor Services toll-free at 1-888-562-3774.