Donate Life Ohio is holding a state-wide competition among 15 universities to spread awareness and increase organ donation. A team of Kent State public relations students is working on the “Do It Now” campaign, with the goal of registering 14,571 organ donors by May. The campaign’s Web site, www.doitnowohio.org, says nearly 3,000 Ohioans are on a waiting list for organ transplants.

The campaign is calling for 15 Ohio colleges, including Bowling Green, University of Akron and Ohio State, to register organ donors from the local area. Each school’s goal differs depending on size and population, the site said. The Kent team has registered 4891 organ donors so far – 34 percent of the campaign’s goal.

The site shows the entire campaign has reached 38 percent of the state goal of 400,000 new registered donors.

Students involved in Kent’s “Do It Now” campaign have been registering donors from the surrounding area at local events. Julie McKinney, a junior public relations major working on the campaign, said the Kent team is recruiting donors from Cuyahoga, Portage and Geauga counties at events such as Kent State basketball games.

The team registered more than 30 organ donors at the Kent State vs. Akron game on Jan. 23, McKinney said.

The campaign team will also be registering organ donors at Saturday’s Kent vs. Akron women’s basketball game. McKinney said the Donate Life team will be at the M.A.C. Center before and during the game. All donors who register at the game will be entered to win gift certificates and T-shirts, McKinney said. Students who recruit other donors will also be entered into the raffle.

McKinney said the “Do It Now” team will continue to recruit donors at events across campus and in the community throughout the semester. Students will have several opportunities to register to become organ donors and help the Kent team in the “Do It Now” competition.

The winning university will receive a monetary prize from the Donate Life Ohio board. McKinney said the money would go to Kent’s Public Relations Student Society of America if the team wins, but she is not sure of the amount of the prize.

Students can also register to become donors online at www.doitnowohio.org/kent.

Contact student health reporter Amanda Hayes at [email protected].