USF’s Get Carded to honor registered organ donors
It’s time to give back to those who gave their signature.
The Thanks for Giving event today is recognizing students, faculty and staff who registered online through the USF’s Get Carded organization to donate organs and tissue.
The event is at the Martin Luther King Plaza from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Since Florida launched its first online organ and tissue donor registry more than a month ago, USF’s Get Carded organization has signed up 52 people.
“That is eight lives per person that can be saved,” said Tami Mendelson, co-director of USF’s Get Carded, which raises awareness of organ and tissue donation.
USF’s Get Carded registered 20 new organ donors Oct. 1, the day Florida launched its registry, she said.
In the first week of the launch, the organization competed against Florida State University, the University of Central Florida and the University of Florida to see which school could get the most student signatures.
USF signed up 35 new donors, beating all three competing schools, Mendelson said.
“With the new online registry, it only takes two minutes to become a donor,” Mendelson said.
More than 62,000 people in west and southwest Florida joined the online registry since its launch, said Jennifer Krouse, manager of Public Affairs for LifeLink Foundation of Florida.
“Nearly 7,000 of those have been traditional college-age students,” she said.
There will be free pizza and refreshments, as well as games and prizes at the event, Mendelson said.
“We are celebrating those who are already organ donors and continuing to promote awareness to those who aren’t in the hopes of signing people up,” she said.
More Stories
USF won’t install more physical protections following recent on-campus suicide
USF will not be implementing additional physical safety measures over a month after a student leapt from an upper floor inside the Interdisciplinary Sciences building, USF spokeswoman Althea Johnson said. The incident marked the third on-campus suicide since fall 2022. A week after a student fell from an upper floor of Beard Garage in 2022, […]
Meet USF’s new student body president and vice president
A new era of Student Government (SG) just arrived. In a quick five-minute ceremony, student body president-elect Suryakanth Prasad Gottipati and vice president-elect Sumit Subhash Jadhav were sworn in on Wednesday afternoon. Their term will start on May 6 and last for one year. Related: Take a look at USF’s student leaders’ swearing in ceremony […]
Photos: Take a look at USF’s student leaders’ swearing in ceremony
A new era of Student Government (SG) just arrived. In a quick five-minute ceremony, student body president-elect Suryakanth Prasad Gottipati and vice president-elect Sumit Subhash Jadhav were sworn in on Wednesday afternoon. Related: USF student body president and vice president-elect sworn in Their term will start on May 6 and last for one year. Gabrielle […]
President Joe Biden visits Tampa to talk abortion rights
Gearing up for the 2024 presidential election, President Joe Biden made a stop in Tampa to talk about reproductive freedom in Florida on Tuesday afternoon. The speech comes just two weeks before the state’s six-week abortion ban comes into effect on May 1. Biden called on Floridians to vote for an amendment deciding abortion access […]
‘Genocide Joe has got to go’: Pro-Palestine protestors gather during Biden’s visit to Tampa
While President Joe Biden took 15 minutes to talk on the protection of reproductive rights in Tampa on Tuesday, pro-Palestine protests chanted against the United States handling “on-going genocide” in Gaza, and its alliance to Israel in the conflict. Related: President Joe Biden visits Tampa to talk abortion rights “The lack of coverage in the media […]
USF students can ‘Swap Shop’ their way into free items this week
USF’s Swap Shop is just around the corner. Literally. Bulls can stop by the Swap Shop, located in Holly J, to pick up some free items – from furniture to clothing. Students, staff and faculty had the opportunity to donate items for the Swap Shop earlier this week on Monday and Tuesday. But ‘shopping’ won’t […]