MORA to Host 7th Annual North Mississippi Donor Recognition Ceremony

TUPELO, Miss. (Press Release) — On Sunday, April 6th at 3:00 pm, The Mississippi Organ Recovery Agency (MORA) will host the 7th Annual North Mississippi Donor Recognition Ceremony at Midtown Pointe (the former Gloster Creek Mall) in Tupelo.  The memorial event is held to honor the lifesaving gifts of area organ and tissue donors and to pay tribute to donor families. The program includes a video presentation highlighting the loved one of each participating donor family. Following the presentation, donor families will view MORA’s “Tree of Heroes” with personalized engraved plaques dedicated to each donor. The “Tree of Heroes” is a permanent donor memorial housed at the south end of Midtown Pointe, next to MORA’s Gift of Life Conference Center.

“This event is the highlight of our year and one that embraces our work and MORA’s mission,” said Ron Waterman, Family Care Specialist for the Mississippi Organ Recovery Agency. “We are able to show our gratitude and lift individuals for their remarkable generosity, for giving life to others and for changing the outcome for so many people in need.”

The program will also feature the announcement of six local scholarship winners awarded by the North Mississippi Donor Family Council. The scholarship outreach was conceived three years ago by area donor families determined to increase donor awareness among high school students. The Donor Family Council has sole responsibility for raising the scholarship funds, for promoting the program to high school seniors and for judging the entries which include essays about donor awareness.

North Mississippi’s Second Chance Transplant Awareness Group, an organization of transplant recipients and recipient family members, will be on hand to assist with the event and express appreciation to the donor families attending. Refreshments will be served following the ceremony in the Gift of Life Conference Center.

Currently over 1,300 Mississippians and 121,000+ Americans are in need of a lifesaving transplant. A new person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 10 minutes and an average of 18 people die each day awaiting a lifesaving transplant that never comes. To register as an organ and tissue donor go to www.donatelifems.org.