- Hi, everyone, Steve Adubato.

We kick off the program talking about organ tissue donation with a young man who's a real leader making a difference.

Divakaran Manimaran is founder and president of Piscataway High School's Donate Life Club, and a volunteer at the New Jersey Sharing Network.

Good to see you, Divakaran.

How you doing?

- I'm doing good, how are you doing?

- Doing great.

Listen, as we tape this program, I'm getting ready for the 5K coming up that goes out of headquarters in New Providence for the Sharing Network.

We'll put the Sharing Network website up.

We've been involved in public awareness in organ and tissue donation for years now.

Tell everyone how you got connected to this initiative, and why you care so much?

- So, hi, everyone.

My name's Divakaran, and I got involved with the New Jersey Sharing Network when my mom, who was, at the time, a nurse at RWJ.

She was involved with the Sharing Network at our hospital, and she took me to the Sharing Network's annual 5K event at the headquarters, and I went there just for volunteering to have fun with my mom, and I went with my sister as well.

And while we were there, I had lots of meaningful interactions with all sorts of people from all walks of life who've been touched by organization through different ways, and all of these experiences inspired me to create a Donate Life Club in my high school, where I spread awareness about organ donation to my peers and the local community.

- You've been recognized on the state level and nationally as a leader in organ and tissue donation.

It wasn't your intent when you got involved, but you're 18 years of age, you're a senior in high school, you're clearly a leader on so many other levels.

What is the message you have for other teens as it relates to organ donation, because it doesn't seem like it would be a topic that would come up a lot, if at all?

Go ahead.

- Yes, yes.

So, for me, initially, organ donations, to be honest with you, seemed like something for people who are older, who had medical conditions.

It didn't seem like something that would be relevant to me or any other teenagers, but my first experience when it came to organ donation was actually meeting someone my age who received a heart transplant when they were younger, and that was when it clicked for me that organ donations are actually something that impacts everyone regardless of their age and medical status.

It can affect anyone.

So, for me, the message that I would give to everyone is, especially for people my age, is that organ donation, it affects everyone, and it doesn't necessarily take a lot to go and make an impact in other people's lives.

It's very easy, if you're passionate about it, you can make a lot of differences in saving lives.

- So, a lot of young people around 17 are getting their license, their driver's license.

Divakaran, help people understand why, when you get your license, when you're awarded your driver's license, and when you pass the test, and everything you need to do, what is the connection between getting your license and becoming an organ donor?

- Yes, so, one of the main ways that you can sign up as an organ donor is actually through your DMV, where when you get your license, you'll be prompted on whether you would like to be a potential organ donor or not, - Right.

- And you can hit Yes or No.

And as a teenage advocate, a lot of my friends have been getting their licenses recently, and I encourage them to select Yes when prompted, which is something I've also done.

- How do most of your friends respond when you bring this up?

- So, when I first started a club, most of us had no clue what organ donation was.

To them, they're like, "What's organ donation?"

Like, I had someone come up to me, explaining, "Isn't that the thing for old people?"

But now, when I talk to more of my friends, they're more involved, they know what organ donation is, and a lot of it's just about the education aspect.

Most people, when they encounter organ donation, it's actually when they're asked whether they want to be an organ donor or not.

So, one of the things I do is try to make sure that people hear about organ donation really young and not in the moment where they're asked on whether they want their relative to be a organ donor.

- You know, a lot of our friends at the New Jersey Sharing Network, when we were talking about you, said, "This young man is a role model.

We need more young men and women, young people who are leaders like this, role models."

To what degree do you see yourself as a role model?

- Yeah, so, that's something I have been told before, but to me, on being seen as a role model, I realize a lot of it is on how passionate you are for what you'd want to do, so- - Why are you so passionate about this?

- To me, it's because I've seen both sides of organ donation.

I've seen the family who've lost their loved one, but I've also seen the people who've been touched, who've received an organ, how much more of their life they're now been able to live, and I'm like, when I look at this, I'm like, "This is what organ donation is."

It's even in the loss, you're able to save a life, and that's what makes me so passionate about organ donation, and that's why I encourage so many people to register as organ donors.

- You're gonna go to college.

Does that mean your advocacy, your leadership, as it relates to organ tissue donation, ends?

- Certainly not, I'm more than 100% sure I'm going to be still being connected with organ donation and all of the advocacy that comes with it, 'cause, to me, organ donation, it can be advocated for in very simple ways, as simple as having a discussion with your family.

When you're sitting around at the table, you're saying, "Oh, this is what organ donation is," or "I want to register as an organ donor," and having these conversations is something even more simply as telling your friends, as well.

So, even after I graduate high school, I'm leaving the club behind, I still, when I go to college, I'm going to go and spread the message of organ donation.

- Are you wearing your green New Jersey Sharing Network wristband?

- Actually, no, I left my wristband downstairs, (Steve chuckling) but I am repping the 5K T-shirt, which I got first year.

- You're repping the 5K?

Will I see you at the 5K with my colleague, Jacqui Tricarico?

We go there on location, will I see you there?

- [Divakaran] Yeah, most certainly.

This is gonna be my third year at the 5K.

I went in 10th grade, 11th grade with my friends, and I'm going definitely going this year as well.

- I am a student of leadership, I talk about it, obsess about it all the time, teach, write, make mistakes as a leader, and the one thing I have convinced myself of is I know a leader when I see a leader.. You're a leader, you're making a difference, and you'll continue to do that.

You make a lot of people proud.

Keep doing what you're doing, young man.

- Thank you, Steve.

- You got it.

I'm Steve Adubato, that's Divakaran, he's a great leader and a role model making a difference.

Stay with us, we'll be right back.

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