AVMC Celebrates National Donate Life Month with Flag Raising Ceremony

(LANCASTER, CA – March 31, 2022) – Antelope Valley Medical Center (AVMC), in partnership with OneLegacy, the organ, eye and tissue recovery organization serving the greater Los Angeles area, will celebrate the commencement of National Donate Life Month with a flag raising ceremony. The annual event highlights the importance of organ, eye and tissue donations, and honors those who gave the ultimate gift of life through donation.

The Flags Across America campaign is part of a national effort to bolster donor registries in April, which is National Donate Life Month. Other activities this month include:

• Blue and Green Day and Spirit Week – On April 22, hospital employees will be encouraged to wear blue and green – the official colors of Donate Life – to call attention to the power of organ donation and the need for others to register to be donors. Blue and Green Spirit Week will be celebrated from April 16 to April 22 with a series of activities. AVMC encourages everyone in the community to show their support by wearing blue and green that day.

In California alone, nearly 20,000 people are waiting to receive lifesaving organ transplants, but there are simply not enough donors to meet the growing need. A single organ donor can save the lives of up to eight people and improve the lives of as many as 75 more by donating their corneas and tissue. Becoming a donor is easy, people may register at the local DMV or online at www.OneLegacy.org/Register.

“Nationally 17 people die each day while waiting for a life-saving organ donation, however it doesn’t need to be this way,” said Edward Mirzabegian, Antelope Valley Medical Center CEO. “Our hope is that our hospital’s participation gives many more people a second chance at life.”

Antelope Valley Medical Center staff members will raise a OneLegacy “Donate Life” flag as a visible and unifying statement about the importance of donation, and celebrates the hundreds of thousands of donors and recipients whose lives have been affected by organ, eye and tissue donation. Media is invited to interview participants, including donor and recipient families; and take photos of the ceremony.

What: Flag Raising Ceremony to Honor National Donate Life Month

When: Friday, April 1, 2022 at 9:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.

Where: Antelope Valley Medical Center – Main Entrance, Flag Poles 1600 West Avenue J, Lancaster, CA 93534

RSVP: Cynthia Frausto, Director, Marketing & Public Relations cynthia.frausto@avmc.org