Donate More Than Clothes at Goodwill of Orange County Stores

This April for National Organ Donation Month, you can donate more than clothes and gently used items at Goodwill of Orange County stores – you can donate life. Through an innovative partnership between Donate Life CA and Goodwill of Orange County, all Goodwill shoppers and donors will be given the opportunity to register as organ, eye and tissue donors.

Historically, most people register at the DMV when they get or renew their driver’s license, but this month, they will also be able to easily register as an organ donor when they drop off donations or shop at any Goodwill store in Orange County.

Each day, 20 people in the U.S. die waiting for an organ donation, and there are more than 100,000 people currently waiting for a lifesaving transplant. More than 22,000 people, or 20% of the national waiting list, are right here in California. The program, created by local ad agency Casanova//McCann, aims to significantly increase the number of registered organ donors in O.C.

“We are excited to be part of this initiative and to use our store and donation sites to change lives in a different way this month,” said Nicole Suydam, president and CEO of Goodwill of Orange County. “On average, we see 90,000 donors in April, so we have a unique opportunity to significantly impact the lives of so many in need.”

“California still lags behind the national average of organ donors and our goal is to close that gap,” Jim Martin, CEO, Donate Life CA said.” We are grateful to partner with Goodwill of Orange County, a respected organization that has given us access to a whole new way to register donors.”

“This is our second initiative for Donate Life CA and our first with Goodwill of Orange County, and we couldn’t be more excited about it,” said Ingrid Otero-Smart, President and CEO, Casanova//McCann. “Last time we increased registrations by 19% and it is our goal to beat that number with this initiative”.