Sarasota Tax Office Honored For Raising Most For Organ Donations

SARASOTA, FL – Collecting more donations than any other tax collector’s office in the state, the Sarasota County Tax Collector’s Office was recognized by the nonprofit Donate Life Florida organization.

Donate Life Florida is dedicated to empowering the public to save and enhance lives through organ, tissue and eye donation with the help of tax collector and Department of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicle offices who encourage donor registration and voluntary contributions during its statewide driver license office campaign held during April in honor of Donate Life Month.

This year’s campaign garnered thehighest levels of donor registrations and voluntary contributions for Donate Life Florida since the annual campaign’s inception in 2012.

“Donate Life Florida is grateful for our longstanding partnership with Florida’s Tax Collectors and the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles,” said Christopher Carroll, executive director of Donate Life Florida. “Since creating the Joshua Abbott Organ and Tissue Donor Registry in 2009, the vast majority of donors have registered when receiving or renewing their driver’s license. It is a pleasure to have this opportunity to thank all of the offices for their support and to recognize those that go above and beyond for award-winning results in their counties.”

Statewide, nearly $50,000 was raised toward education efforts to raise awareness of the need for organ, tissue and eye donors. Sarasota County raised the most money with $22,000 in voluntary contributions.

County Tax Collectors and their staff planned their own fundraising tactics, which included everything from planning community events to simple requests for $1 contributions from customers during a driver license or motor vehicle transaction, to the really creative fundraising concepts adopted in Sarasota County.

“My exceptional staff amazes me with the way they tackle all of their work, and they were equally creative during Donate Life Month,” said Sarasota County Tax Collector Barbara Ford-Coates. “Of course, we could not have raised such a large amount of money without the generosity of our Sarasota County residents.”

Florida’s donor registry is the nation’s third largest with more than 10 million individuals registered as organ, tissue and eye donors. This is due in large part to the work of the Florida Department of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles and Florida Tax Collector Offices where residents completing driver’s license transactions can designate themselves as organ and tissue donors.

Because of this partnership, a significant majority of the state’s 10 million registered organ donors have come through the state’s tax collector and DHSMV offices.

For the time period beginning in January 1988 through May 2018, donors who registered prior to death made possible approximately 40,000 organ transplants in Florida and helped heal even more through tissue donation.

“We believe that, as more people in Florida understand how enormous the need is for the gift of life, more of them are joining the registry,” said Betsy Edwards, Donate Life Florida chairwoman. “We have put incredible effort into educating the public so more people understand the need to register as organ, tissue and eye donors.

Image via Sarasota County Tax Collector

The Sarasota County Tax Collector staff is honored for raising $22,000 during Donate Life Month.

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