Organ donation is one of the most selfless acts an individual can do and far too many of us do not participate.

That’s why the Mississippi Organ Recovery Association and Mid-South Transplant Foundation have joined together to form Donate Life Mississippi. MORA and MSTF have decided to put up Donate Life decorative trees in Mississippi Highway Patrol driver’s examination stations throughout the state this holiday season.

“This is a reminder to those who come for a new license or to renew their license, that they have the opportunity to give the gift of hope to the nearly 1,500 Mississippians that are awaiting a life-saving transplant,” MORA director of community services and relations Chuck Stinson said.

Randa Lipman, the Community Outreach Manager from MSTF, stresses the important role that the Mississippi Department of Public Safety plays in registering organ, eye and tissue donors.

“Over 700,000 Mississippians are currently registered to be organ, eye and tissue donors on the Mississippi Donor Registry and 98 percent of these have done so by registering when getting a new driver’s license or renewing their current one,” Lipman said.

“We are glad to partner with MORA in this worthwhile and life-saving endeavor,” the director of the MHP Driver Services Bureau, Lt. Col. Chris Gillard, added.

A first-year initiative, the trees will be in place at 10 driver’s examiners stations across the state until early January of 2016.

All too often tragedy strikes during the holiday season, but by registering as an organ donor we can make the Christmas season so much better for someone who truly needs a miracle.

Registering is as simple as clicking a button or checking a box on a piece of paper. Anything you opt to select can and will save a life. To register as an organ, eye and tissue donor, visit www.donatelifems.org.