BY SUE MacDONALD
The Cincinnati Enquirer
On the day that the nation's new Organ and Tissue Donation stamp is issued, it's appropriate that Jeff Lueders will participate in the National Kidney Foundation 1998 U.S. Transplant Games, which begin today in Columbus.
Mr. Lueders, of Bridgetown, is spokesman for the Ohio Valley Life Center, a Cincinnati-based, non-profit agency that coordinates organ and tissue donations throughout the Tristate.
He also is a 1992 heart-transplant recipient and member or coach of four transplant basketball teams.
"It has been a long time in the works," he says of the 32-cent stamp that features line drawings of two bodies intertwined, each holding the other's heart.
"Share your life. . ." reads the caption underneath.
"Our hope is that we can get all 50 million stamps out there and encourage people to use them," he says. "We want this stamp to be out there so that people see it and see the message."
The stamp will be issued officially today at the Transplant Games, at Ohio State University, which continue through Saturday, at Ohio State University. Mr. Lueders says the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) also plans to send more than 100 million pieces of direct-mail brochures to U.S. households about the stamp. The brochure also contains an organ donor card.
About 56,000 Americans need organ transplants yearly, and more than 4,000 die waiting for suitable organs to become available.
Organ donor proponents urge family members to talk about their wishes so that end-of-life decisions about whether to donate are well communicated and easier to make.
For information about the stamp and organ donation, contact the non-profit donor alliance Coalition on Donation, (800) 355-7427,the Department of Health and Human Services Web site at http://www.organdonor.gov, or the Ohio Valley Life Center, 558-5555.
