Pittsburgh, January 7, 2014 – The Center for Organ Recovery & Education (CORE), a federally designated not-for-profit organ procurement organization (OPO) serving Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and parts of New York, will turn this Friday’s Erie BayHawks basketball game into an important educational effort to raise awareness of the need for more organ, tissue and cornea donors. This Friday, January 10, CORE will hold “Organ Donation Awareness Night” at the Erie BayHawks vs. Canton Charge basketball game starting at 7:00 p.m. (Erie Insurance Arena, 809 French Street in Erie). BayHawks fans that show their driver’s license indicating that they are a registered donor will receive $1 off of their ticket price.

During the game, transplant recipients will share their stories about how organ donation has impacted their lives. Members of CORE’s Erie Area Volunteer Task Force will also have a table to share information for the urgent need for people to sign up to become registered donors.>/p>

“Large community events and sporting events such as this enable us to educate more people about the importance of making the Pledge for Life by becoming an organ, tissue and cornea donor,” said Susan Stuart, president and CEO of CORE. “At CORE, we are pleased to hold this awareness event and hope that Erie BayHawk fans who are not already registered donors will make that choice on Friday.”

Nationally, more than 120,000 people are awaiting an organ transplant. At least 18 will die each day without receiving one, including two from CORE’s service area. For every person who donates their organs, tissues and corneas, up to 50 lives can be saved or dramatically improved.

For more information about CORE, visit core.org or call 1-800-DONORS-7.

About 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. CORE works closely with donor families and designated health care professionals to coordinate the surgical recovery of organs, tissues and corneas for transplantation. CORE also facilitates the computerized matching of donated organs and placement of corneas. With headquarters in Pittsburgh and an office in Charleston, West Virginia, CORE oversees a region that encompasses 155 hospitals and almost six million people throughout western Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Chemung County, NY. For more information, visit core.org or call 1-800-DONORS-7.