‘Generous Idiot’ encourages organ donation registration on hunting, fishing license applications
PITTSBURGH, Pa. — In observance of National Hunting and Fishing Month, Donate Life West Virginia is launching a statewide ad campaign to encourage organ and tissue donation registration via hunting and fishing license applications. West Virginia is one of the first states in the nation to provide an organ donation registration option in the hunting and fishing licensing process. The campaign is an extension of the “Generous Idiot” campaign that debuted last year.
Tony Slack, a Charleston native, stars in these ads as the “Generous Idiot.” Tony’s daughter, Beth, a married mother of 5-year-old twins, underwent a double lung transplant earlier this year.
Together, the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources and Donate Life West Virginia identified the two most common risk behaviors in hunting and fishing. Two of these were used as inspiration for the videos. In one video, a man, the “Generous Idiot,” is hunting without a tree stand safety harness. In the other, he is fishing without a life jacket.
“Hunting and fishing is a legacy pastime in West Virginia,” said Susan Stuart, president & CEO, CORE. “So giving West Virginians the option to register as an organ donor while getting their hunting and fishing license is a nice parallel to the legacy that is left behind when someone decides to give the ultimate gift. And our hope is that these ads will encourage West Virginia’s hunters and fishers to do just that — offer people like Tony’s daughter, Beth, a second chance at life through organ donation.”
The hunting and fishing videos are available to view on the Center for Organ Recovery & Education’s YouTube channel: youtube.com/user/COREDonateLife.
Media are invited to interview Beth and her father, Tony, as well as regional transplant recipients and the CORE team. Interview clips with Tony (Generous Idiot), Brandon McCoy (Donor Dan) and CORE Community Outreach Coordinator, Christie Conley, are also available.
More information on the campaign can be found at
donatelifewv.org/hunting-fishing-2020.
More than 500 West Virginians are waiting for a life-saving organ transplant, showing the critical need for more individuals to register. Anyone — regardless of age or medical history — can sign up to be a donor. There is no cost to donors and their families, and all major religions in the United States support organ and tissue donation, considering it a final act of love and generosity toward others.
It only takes 30 seconds to register at donatelife.wv.gov.
About Donate Life West Virginia
Donate Life West Virginia is comprised of four federally designated organ procurement organizations (OPOs) that are dedicated to promoting and coordinating the donation of organs and tissue for transplantation: CORE, Lifeline of Ohio Organ Procurement Agency, Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates and LifeNet Health. For more information, please visit donatelifewv.org.
About the Center for Organ Recovery & Education (CORE)
The Center for Organ Recovery & Education (CORE) is one of 58 federally designated not-for-profit organ procurement organizations (OPOs) in the United States, serving more than five million people in western Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Chemung County, New York. CORE coordinates the recovery and matching of organs, tissues and corneas for transplant within our service region, and works tirelessly to create a culture of donation within the hospitals and communities we serve. CORE’s mission is to Save and Heal lives through donation, ultimately ending the deaths of those on the transplant waiting list, while maintaining integrity for the donation process, dignity for the donors, and compassion for their families. CORE is a winner of the 2019 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, a presidential award that recognizes innovation and excellence. For more information or to register as an organ, tissue and cornea donor, please visit core.org.