In honor of Donate Life‘s National DPS Appreciation Celebration, Donate Life Texas (DLT) and the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) will conduct a Flag Raising and Awards Ceremony on Thursday, September 22nd at 10 a.m. to honor DPS‘ Driver License Division‘s staff for their support of the Glenda Dawson Donate Life Texas Registry. The Flag Raising ceremony event is by invitation only and via Facebook livestream.
During the ceremony, Donate Life Texas will present their annual Champion Advocate Awards to 3 individuals for their unique efforts to promote organ donation awareness throughout Texas and support of the state registry. The 2022 DLT Champion Award recipients include:
DLT Legislative Advocate — State Senator Kelly Hancock
DLT Community Advocate Champion — Debbie Mabry
DLT DPS Staff Advocate — Frances Stearns
As part of the day‘s events, NASCAR driver Joey Gase will unveil his #35 car with Donate Life Texas paint scheme he will drive at Texas Motor Speedway Sep. 24th. Gase developed a passion for educating others on the need of organ, tissue, and eye donation after tragically losing his mother, Mary, to a sudden brain aneurysm. Gase and his family decided to donate his mother‘s organs and later learned that her gift helped save and improve the lives of 66 people.
Thursday‘s various ceremony events ultimately serves to honor various individuals‘ efforts and the Texas DPS‘ contribution to DLT‘s lifesaving mission throughout the state. “The ongoing partnership with the Texas Department of Public Safety‘s Driver License Division remains the primary source of registrations,” says Chad Carroll, Executive Director, Donate Life Texas. “Almost 90 percent of registered Texans have signed up through a transaction at their local DPS driver license office. We could not have saved and healed so many lives without this tremendous partnership and efforts of DPS staff members.
Right now, more than 105,000 people nationwide are waiting for a lifesaving organ transplant. More than 10,000 of those waiting are from Texas.
Becoming a registered donor is easy and can have a tremendous impact. One donor can help save 8 lives and improve the lives of more than 75 people with organ, eye, and tissue donation. It all starts with saying ‘yes‘ at your local DPS driver license office. DLT encourages Texans to say, “thank you” and show appreciation to those DPS employees who help drive DLT‘s lifesaving mission forward. Signing up is fast and easy at DonateLifeTexas.org and provides a way for individuals to make their decision to be an organ, eye and tissue donor known.
— Emerling-Gase Motorsports —
