Kelly Hayes
A Florida couple is hoping to soon be able to share the lifesaving message of organ, tissue and eye donation wherever they go with a new license plate approved by the state Legislature last year.
David and Janet Weinstein, both kidney transplant recipients, are avid travelers who already proudly display decals promoting the organ donation cause. However, they hope to soon add a “Donate Life Florida” specialty license plate to their vehicles, so they can save lives while they drive.
In 2020, the Florida Legislature passed legislation approving several new specialty plates, one of which is for Donate Life Florida, which oversees the state’s organ, tissue and eye donor registry. But, the state requires the presale of 3,000 license plate vouchers within a 24-month timeframe before production can begin.
And, Donate Life Florida is campaigning to reach the threshold as quickly as possible.
“We purchased two plate vouchers online,” David Weinstein said in a news release. “There is such a need for organ donation. Unless someone in your family needs an organ transplant you may not really be conscious of the need. Getting the license plate will be a way for more people to be aware of donation.”
The voucher for the license plate is $33, and $25 from each plate sold will be donated to support education on organ donation across the state and help manage the donor registry, said Donate Life Florida chairperson Ashley Moore.
There are more than 107,000 patients awaiting organ transplants across the U.S., and of those, more than 5,000 are listed at transplant centers in Florida.
David Weinstein sees the plates as a way to honor organ donors and their families.
“It’s our way of saying thank you and sharing with others that organs are needed,” David Weinstein said in a news release.
The Weinsteins understand the need firsthand, as each of them suffered from Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) prior to receiving the life-saving procedure, which so far has provided them with a combined 32 additional years of renewed health.
“Kidney transplant saved our lives,” Janet Weinstein said in a news release. “My hope is that the plate will help strike up a conversation with people we meet in our travels so we can encourage others to register as donors.”
