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Savannah Driver Services station staff recognized for supporting organ donation

Gov. Bill Haslam designated Oct 8-12 as “Donate Life Tennessee Department of Motor Vehicles Week” in Tennessee.
The Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security’s Driver Services Division, in partnership with Donate Life Tennessee is holding events across the state to recognize driver services’ employees for the role they play in encouraging organ and tissue donation to save lives.
State and local officials are visiting the centers, along with Tennessee residents who have been impacted by organ and tissue donation, to present Haslam’s proclamation to the employees.
Tuesday, Donate Life Tennessee and local representatives presented the 2018 Governor Haslam’s Driver’s Services Centers Appreciation Week Proclamation to the staff of the Savannah Driver Services Center’s employees.

Donate Life Tennessee and local representatives present the 2018 Governor Haslam’s Driver’s Services Centers Appreciation Week Proclamation to Savannah Driver Services Center employees on Tuesday. In attendance were Hardin County Mayor Kevin Davis, Hardin County Clerk Paula Wilhite, heart recipient Cindy Vaughn, local resident and liver and kidney recipient David Bivens, Department of Safety & Homeland Security West Tennessee Regional Manager Mitzie Henson, District Manager Holly Powers and Station Manager Ginny Jones.

“I commend our driver services’ employees for their continued efforts of promoting donor registration to our citizens when they are visiting one of our driver services centers,” Commissioner David W. Purkey said in a news release. “Becoming an organ and tissue donor gives hope to those who are desperately waiting to receive that call. Sometimes an unfortunate situation provides the fortune of life for another.”
The Department reports that 98 percent of Tennesseans who have registered as organ and tissue donors have done so when receiving or renewing their driver licenses or state IDs at Driver Services Centers. Currently, over 2.3 million Tennesseans are registered on Donate Life Tennessee, the state’s nonprofit Donate Life Tennessee Organ and Tissue Donor Registry.
Donate Life Tennessee is maintained by the state’s two organ procurement organizations, Tennessee Donor Services and the Mid-South Transplant Foundation. Part of their mission is to ensure Tennessee residents understand the importance of organ and tissue donation and register as donors.
In 2017, 1,155 lives were saved through organ transplantation in Tennessee and thousands more received life improving tissue transplants. Presently, over 2,900 Tennesseans are listed on the organ transplant list waiting for a second chance at life, according to the department.
Driver Services Centers across the state are being recognized for supporting Donate Life Tennessee and organ and tissue donation.

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