New York faces a troubling statistic: the state ranks last in the U.S. in percentage of residents registered as organ donors. With just 25 percent of New Yorkers enrolled in the registry, the state is below the national average of 50 percent. Because of this, a New Yorker dies every 18 hours while waiting for a life-saving organ transplant.

To help move the state out of last place, LiveOnNY, formerly New York Organ Donor Network, is launching the first-ever Organ Donor Enrollment Day on Oct. 6 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at a number of Montefiore campuses throughout the Bronx. This event is being held to enroll as many New Yorkers as possible as organ donors in a single eight-hour day.

“There is a dire need for more New Yorkers to sign up as organ donors to save the lives of others,” said Milan Kinkhabwala, M.D., chief of the Division of Transplantation and director of Abdominal Transplantation at Montefiore Medical Center.

Open Enrollment Day locations include:

• Moses campus: 111 E. 210th St.
• Einstein campus: 1825 Eastchester Rd.
• Wakefield campus: 600 E. 233rd St.

Working closely with transplant centers and hospitals, LiveOnNY coordinates kidney, liver, eye and tissue donation for transplant in the New York region, educates the public and health care professionals about donation and transplantation and promotes the importance of signing up on the New York State Donate Life Registry.

Find out how you can be a part of this life-saving day at www.EnrollmentDay.org or by contacting Leo Trevino at (718) 920-4285, ltrevino@montefiore.org.