Myleigh and Makayla Madsen lost their older sister, Makenzie, while she was waiting for a heart transplant, which never came. To honor their sister, raise awareness of the importance of organ, eye, and tissue donation, and encourage every Utahn to say YES to donation, each Saturday during the month of June, Myleigh and Makayla will be selling lemonade and cake pops at their stand in South Jordan with proceeds helping to promote the life-saving gift of donation. On any Saturday during the month of June, please visit the sisters’ Lemonade & Cake Pop Stand at 1394 W. 9220 South, West Jordan, UT 84088. They’ll be there from 1pm – 4pm. Unable to make it out to the sisters’ lemonade & cake pop stand? You can still support their effort by clicking the DONATE button , and selecting LEMONADE STAND from the dropdown campaign menu. And while you’re here on the DonorConnect.life website, please consider signing up to be part of Utah’s donor registry. There are currently more than 100,000 persons who await life-saving organ transplants in the U.S., and nearly 1,000 individuals on the wait list are from Utah. Regardless of your age or health conditions, your selfless choice to join the registry may hold the key to improving or saving someone’s life.

DonorConnect provides several ways in which family members can honor the Gift of Life provided by their loved one. Donor families can have their loved one’s name etched on the glass wall of our Celebration of Life Monument. It was erected in 2004 as a memorial and tribute to individuals both living and deceased that have donated organs, tissue, and eyes for either transplant or research in the intermountain area. The monument is in the heart of Salt Lake City on the southeast corner of Library Square at 500 s. 300 e. Each year we add names of those who have either given the gift of life or enhanced the lives of others and hold a “Celebration of Life” event in their honor with their family and friends. All are welcome and invited to visit the monument year-round.

We have two Gift of Life Run/Walks that take place every summer in Pocatello, Idaho and in Salt Lake City, Utah. It’s a 5K Fun Run and 2K walk. This is our yearly fundraiser, but our focus isn’t on the run…it’s on bringing awareness to organ, eye and tissue donation. People from all over the state participate in the fun run and most of the participants have a connection to organ donation. Donor families are there to honor their loved one who said yes to organ donation. Living donors sometimes attend together. Donor recipients are there to say thank you for a second chance at life. And lastly the families of those affected come out and support this cause.

If you have attended one of our runs in the past, you have probably noticed signs along the course route with pictures of organ, eye, and tissue donors and of transplant recipients. These signs are a visual reminder of the importance of donation and the many lives that are affected. This year, we will create a memorial garden near the pavilion, making it easier to view all the pictures before or after the run. If you would like to honor a loved one or celebrate the gift of life with a memorial picture on the event course, please follow the steps below. The cost of the sign is $20. If you have a team of 20 or more people registered for the Gift of Life Walk/Run, DonorConnect will cover the cost of the sign for you.

Team Mountain West consists of transplant recipients, living donors, & deceased donor family members. Team Mountain West members participate in the Donate Life Transplant Games and participate in community events to promote organ, tissue, and cornea donation and to teach society that organ donation saves lives and allows these athletes a second chance at life. The Donate Life Transplant Games is a multi-sport festival event produced by the Transplant Life Foundation for individuals who have undergone life-saving transplant surgeries. Competition events are open to living donors, organ transplant recipients, bone marrow, corneal and tissue transplant recipients. More than an athletic event, the Donate Life Transplant Games highlight the critical importance of organ, eye, and tissue donation, while celebrating the lives of organ donors and recipients.

In memory of…is a place where you can donate in somebody’s name. Let us know their name and send us a picture and we’ll celebrate their life and recognize the gift of life they gave someone else. We’ll tell their story on our Facebook and Instagram pages.

Behind every organ transplant, cornea replacement surgery, or tissue donation, there is an extraordinary story of selfless sacrifice made by an individual and their family. Unitedly, these persons have delivered hope and healing to thousands of Utahns. To remember their stories, and to educate and inspire the community, DonorConnect maintains one of the country’s best organ, eye, and tissue education programs. More than a dozen professional presenters cover Utah, Southeast Idaho, Wyoming, and Nevada. Their presentations are delivered to service organizations, faith-based groups, and in hundreds of schools reaching tens of thousands of persons each year.