Nonprofit puts spotlight on lack of organ donations from people of color

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Organ donation is a gift that could save a life, but studies show minorities are less likely to make those donations and more likely to need them.

It's an important issue, especially during August, which is National Minority Donor Awareness Month.

Right now, in the Philadelphia area, more than 5,000 people are on a waitlist for organ donation. Of those on the list, 52% of them are people of color.

Eight years before Celeste Brown of Lawnside, New Jersey got on an organ donation waitlist, she was on the opposite end of the spectrum.

Brown experienced a pain no mother should in 2004 when her son, Darnell Branch II, was killed.

"My son was murdered," she said. "So my son was taken away from me."

When she received a call from the Gift of Life Donor Program, she wasn't happy.

"I'm like, 'Here someone has taken my son away from me, and the Gift of Life is asking for more?'" she recalled.

She said no to organ donation. It's a scenario that plays out far too often, especially for people of color.

The 6abc data team found nationally, that minorities make up only 30% of organ donors, but they make up 60% of those who need a donation. It's something the nonprofit Gift of Life Donor Program hopes to change.

"Over the past five years, we've seen an increase of 38% in the number of Black donors," said Richard Hasz, president and CEO of the Gift of Life Donor Program.

Events like the annual Donor Dash celebrate organ donation, but the organization understands there are barriers that keep some minorities from considering it.

"For our community, I know that we have trust issues," said Brown.

It's why Gift of Life also does outreach with faith-based organizations. Brown's opinion on organ donation took a turn eight years after losing her son.

"In 2012, I was told that I needed a transplant," she said.

Brown joined the waitlist for a kidney. After eight years with a myriad of complications presented by the pandemic, she got some good news.

"They said they had a match for me," she recalled with a smile.

Brown is now a Gift of Life ambassador, encouraging others to donate.

"I'm grateful to the donor and his family because they saved my life," she said.

Her life is now among the many saved by organ donation.

"By you saying yes, you can help up to eight different people," said Hasz. "And through tissue transplant maybe over 100 different people can benefit."

The easiest way to become an organ donor is to have your choice indicated on your driver's license. Gift of Life also has an online signup which can be found here.