The Health Science Center
and
the Mickey Mantle Foundation
Team Up to Promote Organ Donation

On December 15, 1995, the State University of New York Health Science Center at Brooklyn and the Mickey Mantle Foundation began a year-long information campaign on organ donation.

The purpose of the campaign is as simple as it is significant: to increase the number of organs availabie for transplantation. Today, more than 40,000 Americans are waiting for an organ do nation. Tragically, about a third of those waiting for a transplant will die before receiving an organ.

"The need for organ donation is especially significant in Brooklyn and other inner cities throughout our nation," said Health Science Center President Russell L. Miller at the kick-off. "Minority group members are more likely to suffer from illnesses like hypertension and diabetes that contribute to organ failure.

Joining Dr. Miller at the kick-off, which was held at Mantle's Restaurant in Manhattan, were baseball legend Yogi Berra, Mrs. Mantle and her sons, New York Knick great Earl "The Pearl" Monroe, and sports public caster Bob Costas.

"Mickey Mantle was a glorious ballplayer, and he has left us with so many images of baseball that we will never forget," said Mr. Costas, who emceed the event. "His greatest accomplishment, though, was perhaps the one he made off the field. Because of Mickey, hundreds of thousands of people have become aware of the need to make organ donations."

Although he received a transplanted liver, Mickey Mantle died from complications caused by cancer. His last wish was to establish a foundation to promote organ and tissue transplants and donor awareness. The slogan Mr. Mantle selected for his foundation was "Be a Hero. Be a Donor." The Health Science Center at Brooklyn is the only medical center in the East that the foundation has formed a partnership with. As part of the campaign, the Health Science Center is distributing a poster of Mickey Mantle acknowledging the applause of Yankee fans. The poster is headlined, "Leave Your Own legacy."

A pioneer in transplantation, the Health Science Center has performed more kidney transplants than any other transplant center in New York State. It was also the site of the first successful combined kidney-pancreas transplant in New York State.

The Health Science Center is also a leader in educating the public about the need for organ donation. Members of the Centers transplant team along with their patients recently taped an hour-long special on organ donation for the McCreary Report. And last year the Center was named the New York State site for the Minority Organ and Tissue Transplant Education Program. This National Institutes of Health-sponsored program aims at increasing minority organ donation. Though nationally African-Americans constitute 12 percent of the population, they make up a third of those waiting for organ transplants.

The message of the campaign with the Mickey Mantle Foundation is that organ donation means new life for someone.

At the event, Mr. Monroe spoke of a close friend who died while waiting for an organ transplant.

"I think it's important to educate kids," Mr. Monroe told a reporter from the Daily News afterwards. "There's a need out there for organ donations, but many people are still ignorant of the facts. We need to make sure that everyone knows that organ donation is life itself."

(L to r: Mrs. Mantle, Danny Mantle, and sportscaster Bob Costas)