Tennessee Donor Services, Donor Alliance and NASCAR Driver Joey Gase Team Up To Highlight the Need for Organ and Tissue Donation with #BeTheGift in Nashville!

NASCAR driver Joey Gase has partnered with Tennessee Donor Services (TDS) and Donor Alliance to drive home the need for more people to register as organ and tissue donors. Joey will drive the TDS #BeTheGift #15 Car in the Ally 400 NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday, June 20th.

Additionally, Joey’s #15 Tennessee Donor Services car will honor recipients and donors with “Hands for Hope.” This Friday from 2:00-4:00pm CT at the TriStar Skyline Medical Center, those who have been affected by organ donation and/or are registered donors, will get the chance to participate in a Hand Prints of Hope Event. With the event, individuals have the opportunity to place their Hand Print of Hope on Gase’s #15 Tennessee Donor Services car and write a message of Hope. In addition, those who were not able to be at the event in person sent in their Hand Prints and messages of Hope virtually. These will be placed on the car during the event as well.

“Hand Prints of Hope events are something we have been doing for a couple of years now but I am very excited to say this is the first in person event we have been able to do since COVID,” said Gase. “These events are so cool in so many different ways. It gets so many different people from the community involved, plus it can be a very emotionally and healing time for those closely involved. The other great thing is that seeing Hand Prints all over a race car is very unique, so the car draws in a ton of attention at the track. The fans and media ask why we have Hand Prints all over the car which leads us to be able to tell the importance of organ donation and honor all of those affected it by it.” 

Over 107,000 people are on the national organ transplant waiting list and over 3,000 of those are on the Tennessee organ transplant waiting list. Along with the “Hands for Hope”, Joey’s # 15 car prominently displays the BeTheGiftToday.com registry website which allows fans to easily register as an organ and tissue donor. By registering to #BeTheGift, we can increase the chance that lives will be saved.

Driver Joey Gase has been an advocate for organ donation since the death of his mother, who died suddenly of a brain aneurysm in 2011, just after his 18th birthday. Joey and his family made the life-saving decision to donate her organs and he made a personal vow to educate the public on the importance of organ and tissue donation to give someone a second chance at life.

All are welcome to attend the event this Friday and we hope to see you all there!
 
About Tennessee Donor Services
An Extraordinary Commitment to Science, Health, and Hope
Tennessee Donor Services a non-profit, organ procurement organization (OPO) dedicated to saving and improving lives by connecting organ and tissue donations to the patients who need them. TDS serves nearly five and a half million people in Tennessee and Virginia. For more information on Tennessee Donor Services visit tds.dcids.org.
 
About Donor Alliance 
Donor Alliance is the federally-designated, non-profit organ procurement organization and an American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB) accredited tissue bank serving Colorado and most of Wyoming. As a recognized leader in facilitating the donation and recovery of transplantable organs and tissues, Donor Alliance’s mission is to save lives through organ and tissue donation and transplantation. To achieve this mission, Donor Alliance employs effective family approach and recovery programs in more than 100 hospitals. Donor Alliance also inspires the public to register as organ and tissue donors through community partnerships, public outreach and education campaigns throughout its donation service area.

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