In recognition of National Donate Life Month, The University of Toledo Medical Center and Life Connection of Ohio will host a flag-raising ceremony on Wednesday, April 6.

The event, which will begin at 11 a.m. outside UTMC’s main entrance near Mulford Library, serves to celebrate donors and recipients while also raising awareness about the ongoing need for organ, eye and tissue donors in northwest Ohio and around the country.

Nearly 110,000 Americans, including more than 3,000 Ohioans, are currently waiting for a life-saving organ transplant, with another person added every 10 minutes.

UTMC, northwest Ohio’s only organ transplant center, completed a record 174 kidney transplants in 2021, up from 112 in in 2020.

This year’s flag-raising ceremony, which coincides with National Living Donor Day, will feature a father who received a life-saving kidney transplant at UTMC in 2017 after his daughter donated one of her kidneys.

For more information on organ, eye and tissue donation or to register as a donor, visit Life Connection of Ohio’s website.