At the September 18 Brookhaven Town Board Meeting, Councilwoman Jane Bonner was presented with the Advocate Award from LiveOnNY in recognition as a legislative partner who is committed to promoting organ donation and the work of LiveOnNY.

This year marks the 7^th anniversary of Councilwoman Bonner’s donation of one of her kidneys to Tom D’Antonio, her friend of more than 40 years. During the presentation, Councilwoman Bonner spoke of her own experience as a living organ donor and the need for people to step up and register. For information about organ, eye and tissue donation, and to enroll online in the New York State Organ and Tissue Donor Registry, visit www.donatelifeny.org.

Pictured left to right are Town Clerk Kevin LaValle; Councilman Neil Foley; Manager, LiveOnNY Community & Government Affairs, Karen Cummings; Councilwoman Jane Bonner; Supervisor Ed Romaine; Deputy Supervisor/Councilman Dan Panico; Councilman Michael Loguercio and Councilmember Jonathan Kornreich.

LiveOnNY is a nonprofit, federally designated organ procurement organization (OPO) dedicated to saving lives, providing comfort, and strengthening legacies through organ, eye, and tissue donation. The OPO, which was established in 1978, serves a culturally and ethnically diverse population of 13 million residents in New York City, Long Island and the lower Hudson Valley.

Working closely with transplant centers and hospitals, LiveOnNY coordinates organ, eye, and tissue donation for transplant, educates the public and healthcare professionals about donation and transplantation, and promotes the importance of signing up on the New York State Donate Life Registry. LiveOnNY works closely with 11 transplant centers, nearly 100 hospitals, and several tissue and eye banks. LiveOnNY is a member of the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), which oversees the organ transplant waiting list in the U.S. For more information, please visit LiveOnNY.org.