Michigan colleges compete in Gift of Life challenge to add donors to organ registry

Every day, 22 patients die waiting on the transplant list because not enough organs are readily available. For some, such as the Wayne State University community, registering organ donors holds a personal meaning as they lost one of their own who was waiting for a lung transplant.

The Gift of Life Michigan Campus Challenge gets colleges across the state into the competitive spirit as they race to add people to the Michigan Organ Donor Registry. More than 40,000 donors have been added to the registry during the five-week competition in the last 15 years.

The 2023 challenge began on Jan. 26 and concludes on March 2, with 14 colleges competing for first place. Currently, the 14 colleges have a total of 104 registrations and the competition is being led by Wayne State, followed by Baker College, Montcalm Community College, Calvin University, and Northern Michigan University.

According to Wayne State, the college has won the Gift of Life Michigan Campus Challenge for 11 consecutive years and it hopes to make it a 12th. The challenge is led by the Alpha Gamma Delta sorority, with the help of other student organizations.

Abbey Neal, a current Wayne State student, and member of Alpha Gamma Delta said the Gift of Life challenge on their campus is interactive.

"Alpha Gamma Delta partners with fraternities, sororities, College of Nursing and the Mike Ilitch School of Business," she said. "The challenge is not only for AGD but the entire Wayne State community. Partnering with these clubs and associations allows us to get in contact with more of the Wayne student body."

Honoring Rebecca

Rebecca Butler, the former member of Alpha Gamma Delta, lost her life in 2011 to pulmonary hypertension while on the transplant list. The competition is heavily supported by her parents, Beverly and Tim Butler, and the sorority fights for first place each year to honor Rebecca.

According to Beverly and Tim, they are extremely proud of the work Wayne State has done since 2012 for the Gift of Life competition.

“We watch from afar and we’re blown away and so proud of the great work they're doing,” said Beverly. “Somebody down the line, they will be in the room and get the call, or be in the hospital and get the call, or be at home and get the call. You just have to know and feel that you are making a difference in lives in the many decades to come.”

However, this year Wayne State has some competition from Baker College, and the two have been flip-flopping back and forth for first place throughout the challenge.

Baker hot on the trail

Jennifer Kempa, Surgical Technology Program Director, is leading the fight at Baker with the help of students and staff. They have been actively reaching out to high schools in the area, hosting tables on campus, and putting up flyers around Muskegon.

Kempa said organ donations and transplants are extremely important to her as she has worked on both sides of it and is happy to bring the Campus Challenge to the Baker community for the second year.

“I understand the gravity of a patient who has given the gift of life by being part of the organ donor registry or having their family members allow for that to happen and then I’ve also seen it on the other side, the lifesaving and life-changing power that organ donation can have on the recipients of these tissues and these organs,” she said.

Kempa hopes to beat Wayne State and increase registry numbers before the competition concludes.

“It’s such a small window of opportunity for organ donation that if we can increase the number of people on the registry, than we can 100% start really making a difference for the hundreds of thousands of people just in Michigan that are waiting for these life-saving organs,” Kempa said.

Nevertheless, Neal said Wayne State won't go down without a fight this year.

"We have won this campus challenge for the past 11 years against competing colleges around Michigan," Neal said. "AGD would love to keep this challenge going strong and get our 12th consecutive win."

To join the Michigan Organ Donor Registry and support one of the competing colleges, use this link. For the first drop-down box, select "School/College" and select the college of your choice in the second drop-down box. There is also a general link here to join the registry.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Gift of Life: Michigan colleges compete for organ donor registries