Registration is now open for Donation Behind the Scenes, our free, half-day seminar designed to help hospital staff members learn how their organizations can help save and enhance lives through a collaborative approach to organ and tissue donation. The seminar, scheduled to run from 8 a.m. – 1:15 p.m. Friday, July 12, at Gift of Hope's headquarters in Itasca, will offer a behind-the-scenes look at the multifaceted donation process, from donor referral to organ and tissue recovery. CEUs have been applied for.

To observe National Donate Life Month and recognize our many dedicated Advocates for Hope volunteers for their support of our lifesaving mission, we published 30 Stories in 30 Days —one story a day —throughout April on the Gift of Hope Blog. We shared the stories as part of our month-long observation of National Donate Life Month, but the stirring messages they send are meaningful all year long. We invite you to follow the link below to read these inspirational stories of hope and life made possible through donation.

Our inaugural issue of Connections, a new quarterly newsletter, has been published. It’s designed to keep all of our key external audiences — hospitals, funeral service professionals, coroners/medical examiners, volunteers, Hispanic and African-American Task Force members, Donor Family Advisory Council members, Donate Life Illinois organizations, and our many other friends in the donation community — abreast of what’s going on at Gift of Hope. Click on the icon below to browse through our premier issue.

During his recent deployment, Army Staff Sgt. Erik Tofte carried a Donate Life flag to Africa, the Mideast, Europe and Southeast Asia and displayed it to honor college friend Cameron Chana, who saved and enhanced more than 30 people’s lives as an organ and tissue donor. Erik took photos of himself with the Donate Life flag during his travels and recently presented the flag and a photo book to Cameron’s parents, Robert and Lori Chana. The Chicago Tribune and The Doings newspapers have chronicled Erik’s story.

We are now posting donation activity data for donor hospitals so you can monitor your performance on four key metrics and see how you compare with other hospitals. The data show rankings by organ donors, donation conversion rate, authorization rate and timely notification rate. Our latest data posting shows hospital performance for the first quarter of 2013. Additional updates will be posted quarterly throughout the year. We encourage you to review the reports regularly with your Gift of Hope Donation Coordinator.

Our creative video blends words, music and images into a high-impact visual tool designed to generate a social media “buzz” about organ and tissue donation and inspire people to register as donors. Life Song conveys the messages that we’re all born with our own “life song” that changes and evolves throughout our lives and concludes when we reach our “grand finales.” And that organ and tissue donation can let you keep the beat going and help others’ melodies keep playing once yours has faded.