Currently only 70 percent of state residents have registered.
“A big part of us trying to spread the word is making sure that people truthfully understand how the system works and that they can trust it,” community relations coordinator Corinne Osinski-Carey said.
Until earlier this year, the Indiana Donor Network had been known as the Indiana Organ Procurement Organization.
According to a statement from CEO Kellie Hanner, a survey of several hundred state residents showed confusion about the organization’s purpose and a need for a total rebrand.
In addition to making the logo a vibrant orange, green and blue circle of three people, a new tagline was established: “Saving lives through organ and tissue donation.”
Each patient in need of an organ or tissue is registered with a national agency. When donors are identified, they are matched with patients based on blood type, tissue type, severity of illness and time spent on the waiting list, among other factors, according to the organization’s website.
Nearly 1,500 people in Indiana — and 30 in Monroe County — are currently in need of an organ or tissue transplant, Osinski-Carey said.
Osinski-Carey said she and her group of 200-300 active volunteers focus on going to highly attended events and spreading the word about donor registration.
The Indiana Donor Network has set up booths at IU events, Pacers games, high school football games statewide and the Klipsch Music Center.
One volunteer, Beth Zeilstra, now advocates for organ donation after receiving a new pancreas herself about seven years ago.
“It totally changed my life, and I feel that I was given a second chance to live, so if I can get just one person to sign up to be a donor, that has the potential to save eight lives,” Zeilstra said.
She said many people worry they can’t be donors for health or personal reasons, which is an attitude Zeilstra said she hopes to eradicate.
“I encourage anyone and everyone to be an organ donor,” Zeilstra said. “If you even think that maybe you might want to be a donor, just sign up, and then let the doctors decide later if it will work out.”
