LifeSource and Local Donors Save Over 800 Lives in One Year on the Transplant Waiting List – A Historic First for the Region

Increase credited to expanded innovations and new engagements with communities, families and partnerships 

MINNEAPOLIS – LifeSource, the organ procurement organization serving the Upper Midwest, is proud to announce a historic achievement in 2024, marking its fifth consecutive year of growth, resulting in more lives saved by local organ donors and thousands more healed through tissue donation. 

2024 Donation and Transplantation Highlights 

• Organ Donors (Legacies Created): 258 – a 1% increase over 2023 

• Organs Transplanted (Lives Saved): 874 – a 10% increase over 2023 

• Musculoskeletal (MS) Donors: 969 – a 10% increase over 2023 

• Estimated lives healed by MS Donors: 72,675+  

View 2024 Year In Numbers Infographic [PDF] 

“Together, we saved and healed over 73,000 lives in 2024. Let’s continue to dream big, embrace change and inspire one another to serve those who need us most,” shares Kelly White, LifeSource Chief Executive Officer. “It is a privilege to serve this mission.”  

This ever-increasing growth would not have been possible without LifeSource’s 250+ team members unwavering commitment to excellence and continued engagement with communities and partnerships. 

Here are highlights from 2024:  

• A new awareness campaign: MenAreTheAnswer.org. LifeSource launched a public awareness campaign this year to encourage more men to register as organ donors. While men are more likely than women to need a transplant, fewer of them are registered as organ donors—almost 50% of Minnesota men haven’t yet registered as organ donors. 

• A refreshed identity with a new logo and tagline that reflects who we are and how we serve our community. Our updated brand provides new opportunities to establish stronger emotional connections to the work that goes into managing the donation process and strengthens peoples’ positive perceptions about donation and LifeSource’s role as an engaged community member and partner. Learn more here. 

• Normothermic Regional Perfusion (NRP) is a significant advancement in the field of transplantation, leveraging cutting-edge technology to save more lives through organ donation and improve patient outcomes. LifeSource began launching its practice in 2024. Learn more here.  

LifeSource looks forward to building on this remarkable growth even more in 2025, continuing the journey towards a world where organ donation is not just a choice but a universal legacy of compassion and life-saving generosity. 

For media inquiries, please contact:  

 Sarah Sonn, Communications Director 
415-806-1467; ssonn@life-source.org   

About Organ Donation: Facts & Statistics 

• Organ donation is extremely rare. Only 1 percent of people who die get the opportunity to give those gifts. That’s due to a variety of medical and circumstantial criteria, including passing away at a hospital on ventilated support. 

• It takes many people working in concert to make the donation process happen in a short period of time. Watch this video to learn more about the donation process. 

• Over 100,000 people are on the national transplant waiting list – with about 2,600 people living in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. A new name is added to the waiting list every 7.5 minutes.  

• One organ donor can save eight lives by donating organs; heal more than 75 lives by recovering tissue and restore sight for 2 individuals through eye donation. 

About LifeSource  

LifeSource is the community-based, non-profit organization dedicated to saving lives through organ, eye and tissue donation in the Upper Midwest, serving more than seven million people in communities across Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. We are relentlessly pursuing a day when no one dies waiting for a life-saving transplant. Learn more at Life-source.org. 

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