AJR 109 — Designates month of April of each year as "Donate Life Month."

AJR109 1R [First Reprint] ASSEMBLY JOINT RESOLUTION No.

Assemblywoman HEATHER SIMMONS District 3 (Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem) Assemblywoman  SHANIQUE SPEIGHT District 29 (Essex and Hudson)    Co-Sponsored  by:   SYNOPSIS      Designates month of April of each year as "Donate Life Month."   CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT      Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.

Assemblywoman Drulis and Assemblyman Freiman     SYNOPSIS      Designates month of April of each year as "Donate Life Month."   CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT      As reported by the Assembly Aging and Human Services Committee on March 16, 2026, with amendments.

and Whereas, In 2022,1[2022] 20251, the 1State’s two nonprofit organ procurement organizations, the1 NJ Sharing Network 1and Gift of Life Donor Program,1 reported that there was an all-time high record set in the State with 2831[283] 3511 organ donors saving 6701[670] 8691 lives in addition to the 40,000 eye and tissue donations which improved the quality of  the recipients’ lives;

       1.  The month of April each year is designated as “Donate Life Month” to promote organ donor registration and celebrate the lives of those who have been impacted by organ donation.

    STATEMENT        This resolution designates the month of April each year as “Donate Life Month” in the State of New Jersey.       The intent of this resolution is to honor those who have made the decision to give the gift of life to others and to encourage all New Jersey citizens to register as organ donors.

Organ donation is a lifesaving service that can benefit thousands of New Jersey residents and their families.

For example, it only takes one donor to save eight lives and enhance the lives of over 75 others by their tissue and eye donation.  Transplants, however, are only available to those on the donor waitlist who are able to be matched based on blood and tissue type, organ size, medical urgency, waiting time, and geographic location.

The rate at which people are added to the waitlist is greatly outpaced by the amount of people currently registered as organ donors.

Consequentially, in America, at least 17 people die every day waiting for an organ transplant.  This is why it is important that all adult residents of New Jersey register to become organ donors as increasing the amount of eligible donors will alleviate the impact on those waiting for transplants in the State.

     New Jersey residents can register as an organ and tissue donors at their local Motor Vehicle Agency or through the National Donate Life Registry online.

New Jersey has shown a commitment to providing high quality health care services regardless of whether someone is registered as an organ donor.

There is much to be done still in closing the gap in the amount of available organs and those who are on the organ donor waitlist.