[INSPRATIONAL MUSIC STING] - We're at the New Jersey Sharing Network in beautiful New Providence, New Jersey.

This is the 5K and this is the President and CEO of the Sharing Network, Carolyn Welsh.

How you doing today?

- Good, how are you?

- I'm doing great.

Every year we talk about this, I ask why today?

'Cause this is one of many events why today is such a special day today?

Remind everyone.

- Today is an extremely special day at our headquarters in New Providence.

Donor families, recipients, and advocates for donation and transplantation come together to celebrate life.

- How's the event changed over the years, other than getting much bigger?

- The evolution and the way that this event has evolved for families is incredible.

It's a place for them to come to feel at home, and always be a part of our lives as long as they want us to.

- The campaign, "Say Yes, Save Lives", translate that.

- Yes.

To find a way to say yes that's our new kind of thematical and motive this year.

Everything starts with yes.

When a family says yes to donation.

When a patient says yes to be put on a transplant list.

So our "Say Yes Save Lives" is so that we save as many people as we can and we save as many donor families as we can.

They lose a loved one and our job is to comfort them and help them throughout that journey.

- 25 years with the Sharing Network.

- Yes.

- Remind everyone how you started.

- I answered an ad in the "Asbury Park Press."

- That was it.

- That was it.

Back when there was paper.

- Back then.

- Back then.

There was the Wednesday classified or the Sunday.

I answered an ad in the "Asbury Park Press" and said, "I would be an organ donor.

That sounds like a really cool job."

Learned about organ donation.

Came and never looked back and just celebrated my 25th year in March.

- Congratulations.

- Thank you.

- So do this for us.

Just as we're taping this program pretty early on in June, it'll be seen later.

There's an initiative that happened.

There's something to celebrate.

Back on May 31st, first ever Transplant Growth Collaboration event.

What the heck was, is that, and why is it so significant?

- It was an amazing program.

I was invited to an exclusive event in Utah for the first inaugural Transplant Growth Collaboration.

It was hosted by the Utah OPO, Donor Connect.

- Hold on, the OPO stands for?

- Organ Procurement Organization, just like the Sharing Network in Utah.

And they said yes to do the first one to increase transplantation with an endorsed organ.

It's OPTN, which is the Organ Procurement Transplant Network.

Joined with them to say, how can we be innovative?

How can we save more people's lives?

Donation has increased exponentially over the last five years.

Transplant has increased, but not at the rate of organ donation.

So as we're increasing organ donation, we need to make sure that we're increasing transplantation across the country so that we're saving as many lives and maximizing the gift when the family says yes to donation.

So I was in Utah and they asked for bold commitments and I raised my hand and said, "We'll do it in New Jersey."

Because New Jersey is New Jersey, right?

Jersey generosity.

Bring it to New Jersey.

We're on the East Coast.

We have more transplant centers than any other area in the country and we really can make an impact because we do what we say we're gonna do.

And in New Jersey we said we're gonna do it bigger, better.

And we did it and we planned it in five weeks.

- What other states were involved?

- We had all six New Jersey transplant centers and we had eight New York transplant centers of the 13.

And the others wanted to come, but it was really a two week notice.

So they're all gonna start to come and tour here at New Jersey Sharing Network and really build the collaboration between us and their centers.

- What's the payoff for that?

- More people getting lives saved.

The awareness of transplantation and helping to see what do they need?

What do their patients need?

What do their lists look like?

What do we need to do when caring for an organ donor that may make a difference?

And really bringing innovation to transplantation here in New Jersey.

- You know, Carolyn, again, we talk about these statistics all the time.

Remind everyone there are how many?

Nationally is over a hundred thousand?

- Yes.

- People waiting.

- Yes.

- New Jersey still at about 4,000.

- About 4,000, yes.

- But at the same time, fifth year in a row, organ donations have increased in the state.

Record numbers, but still 4,000.

Explain that.

- So there's about 33,000 people in New Jersey and New York on dialysis.

I think it's 15,000 in New Jersey and about 33,000 in New York.

Those are people on dialysis.

So with people on dialysis, they really, once they learn that they can get a transplant and then be removed from the dialysis, it's about education.

So even though we say there's 4,000 people waiting in New Jersey, there's many, many more people that need organs, but it's the supply and demand.

So once we increase the number and we can transmit more people, more people can get listed.

- You know, Carolyn, one of the things I was picking up on, we were talking to Lakisha earlier and check out that interview.

It's part of the larger conversation, but also Lakisha's interview will standalone.

She has a powerful story about her daughter, her sister.

The thing that I was thinking about is, and she was talking about in the African American community, of the 4,000 people waiting, 68% are African American.

One of the challenges facing the Sharing Network and the African American community is that parents are filling out, say they're filling out a form for their kid, their child growing up when they get their license.

When you get your license, there's a place to check off to be an organ donor.

Parents are doing that for kids.

What's the message to the parent?

What should the message be to the young person who's getting his or her their license?

Talk about that.

- So in New Jersey, your motor vehicle, you can designate your decision to be a donor, like you said.

- Just checking off?

- Just by checking a box, yes.

You could do it on your phone, your app on your phone, your health app.

You can go to our website, but for what you're talking about in getting parents to want their kids to say yes and their kids, we go to high schools all throughout New Jersey.

We also are bringing the message to the community where people are at.

So we did a school drive last year.

Our employees paid and donated money and we went and bought a ton of school supplies and we contacted schools that needed supplies.

And we went to Paterson, and we went to Camden, and we went to bring the message there.

- Urban areas.

- Yes.

- By design.

- By design.

- Because?

- Because they need it.

And our staff, when you work here, you want to help people.

So what else could we help with besides donation?

And we're in the communities for health fairs, at hospitals, that do things to bring diabetes screenings, high blood pressure screenings, and we go and we make sure that we're educating about donation prior to the question at the bedside.

- Making progress in the minority community when it comes to organ donation how do we know?

- So more families say yes that we interact with and their conversations back with us.

They're more open to the conversation.

The trust is there.

They've heard who we are.

They know that we're in their communities so that they trust when we're at that point of asking, or their kids knew and heard about it at high school and came home and talked about it with their family 'cause that's what we encourage them to do.

- Education, public awareness remains at the top of the list.

- Top of the list.

- Because?

- It's super important.

You never want to be asking this question for the first time, or hearing about this when your loved one has passed away.

If we can reach people prior to that conversation, it's much easier.

What would that person have wanted six months ago if we were around the table talking about it from a public health perspective, or if they ever needed an organ or someone in their family did, wouldn't they want someone to say yes?

And when you have that conversation, when you're not in trauma and tragic loss, the question becomes an easier conversation.

- Thanks Carolyn.

- Thank you.

- [Narrator] State of Affairs with Steve Adubato is a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Celebrating 30 years in public broadcasting.

Funding has been provided by The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey.

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Let’s be healthy together.

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IBEW Local 102.

And by The Adler Aphasia Center.

Promotional support provided by New Jersey Globe.

And by NJBIZ.

- I’m very grateful that I’m still here.

- That’s me and my daughter when we went to celebrate our first anniversary.

- With a new kidney I have strength.

- They gave me a new lease on life.

- I’m still going everywhere and exploring new places.

- Nobody thought I was going to be here, nobody.

- I look forward to getting older with my wife, that’s possible now.

- [Narrator] We’re transforming lives through innovative kidney treatments, living donor programs, and world renowned care at two of New Jersey’s premiere hospitals.

- They gave me my normal life back.

It’s a blessing.

- [Narrator] RWJBarnabas Health.

Let’s be healthy together.