Lyons Township hosts Organ Donation Registration event

Lyons Township High School held an organ donation registration event on Thursday, April 25. Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias and Life Goes On team members joined the district and host/student Mark DeMonte to greet students, answer questions and raise awareness on this important topic.

April is National Donate Life Month, a time when communities across the country bring attention to the critical shortage of organs and tissue for patients, so it was the perfect time to host at a school community of roughly 4,000 students. While our state continues to be the leader in registering potential donors, there are still 4,000 people on the waiting list. One person can save and improve more than 25 lives through organ, eye and tissue donation. Mark was a tissue donation recipient himself; to view more of his story, visit youtube.com/watch?v=0bEfQfrQ0tE.

“The Lyons Township community is very kind, collaborative and supportive; it allowed me to know that I can really make a difference. It’s given me the opportunities and the resources to find my passions to make a tangible difference,” said student/tissue recipient Mark DeMonte.

Dozens of Lyons Township students registered during the event with many more doing so at a later date. Lyons Township is proud of senior Mark DeMonte for bringing awareness and encouragement to this issue.

“Mark is an impressive student here at Lyons Township High School. He has many accomplishments to celebrate including President of Best Buddies, Program Director at WTTL Radio, National Merit Semi-Finalist. The district was honored to get behind these efforts and partner with him to bring awareness to something that is so important to him,” said Superintendent Dr. Brian Waterman.

To learn more or register, visit lifegoeson.com/about_us/home.html.