Organ donation non-profit LiveOnNY honored for advocacy

Assembly Member Sam Berger and representatives from the office of State Sen. Leroy Comrie honored the LIC-based non-profit LiveOnNY for its role in advocating for a new law aiming to expand organ donation education across New York State.

LiveOnNY, a non-profit founded in 1996 committed to helping New Yorkers “live on” through the power of organ and tissue donation, played a “pivotal role” in the push for S.2739A/A.8275A, which was recently signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul and mandates the inclusion of information on organ and tissue donor registration in the pre-licensing course for operating a motor vehicle.

LiveOnNY expects that the law, which comes into effect on May 21, 2025, will significantly boost organ donor registration rates and enhance public awareness of the importance of organ donation, representing a “critical step” toward addressing a current organ shortage in New York, with roughly 9,000 patients awaiting lifesaving transplants.

Berger, representatives from Comrie’s office and LiveOnNY staff gathered at the organization’s headquarters at The Factory at 30-30 47th Ave. in Long Island City on Thursday afternoon to recognize the importance of the new law.

Elected officials and LiveOnNY staff also heard from organ donor advocates and recipients, including Queens native Wajana Vallecillo Pagan, who celebrated the life of her mother Milagros Pagan, an organ donor who died in 1996 and helped others “live on”.

Maleni Alvarez, a two-time kidney transplant recipient, and her mother, Maria Centeno, also spoke of the importance of organ donation during Thursday’s event. Alvarez, who was born with spina bifida, a birth defect affecting the development of the spinal cord, successfully received a kidney from her sister in 2013 before the kidney failed during the COVID-19 pandemic. She recently received a second kidney from the victim of a road traffic accident in October 2024.

“I’m doing great,” Alvarez said. “Because of that kidney, I was able to go to Rome and visit the Pope, and I actually shook his hand.”

She added that she now regards transplant recipients and donors as her brothers and sisters, describing the special bond that exists between transplant recipients.

Vallecillo Pagan, meanwhile, spoke of how her mother was a “miracle of life” when she was alive and “a miracle of saving lives and living on” following her death in 1996 at the age of 46.

“We miss her, but she got to live on,” Vallecillo Pagan said. “It made me feel so amazing to know that there’s something that you could do in your desperation and that allows them to live on through someone else.”

Berger stated that he was proud to sponsor the bill mandating the inclusion of information on organ and tissue donor registration in pre-licensing courses, noting that the law was the first bill he passed after taking office in September 2023. He also noted that the bill received bipartisan support from every Republican and Democrat in the Assembly.

“I never thought I would do anything that had this much meaning,” Berger said during Thursday’s event. “I’m so tremendously grateful for your stories,” he added, addressing the advocates and transplant recipients.

Berger and representatives from the office of Leroy Comrie held a pen ceremony for LiveOnNY President and CEO Leonard Achan, presenting Achan with a copy of the bill mandating the inclusion of information on organ and tissue donation in pre-licensing courses.

Achan described the new law as “critically important,” sending a “signal” to elected officials and members of the public that organ donation is important.

He added that New York had historically low levels of organ donations, stating that it is vitally important to educate people about organ donation and dispel myths and urban legends surrounding organ and tissue donation.

“The bottom line is that people have grown to understand donation more, understand the impact more. Understand, as you’ve heard today, that they want to give that gift of life, they want themselves or their loved ones to live on,” Achan said. “You cannot have a recipient without a donor. Dispelling the urban myths, the legends is critically important.”

Achan added that it has been historically difficult to find information about organ donation, stating that the new bill will help to inform members of the public.

“We wrote a strategic plan to engage, to go into the community, to go into the nursing realm, the nursing schools, the high schools,  the grassroots community, and educate the public about the truth about donation,” Achan said. “It’s just a matter of investment. It’s a matter of moments like today to show people this is important enough.”