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St. Luke’s Allentown Campus will mark National Donate Life Month on Wednesday, April 10, with testimonials from those who have experienced organ donation. The event will feature a candle-lighting and a flag-raising ceremony to honor organ, eye and tissue donors and raise awareness about how donation can improve or save lives.

The ceremony will begin at 11 a.m. in the family waiting area on the 4^th floor between the East Tower and new pavilion of St. Luke’s Allentown Campus. 

National Donate Life Month is held every April to raise awareness of the critical need for donors and encourage everyone to register as an organ, tissue and cornea donor. In the U.S., 100,000 persons are awaiting a lifesaving transplant, 5,000 of them in the Lehigh Valley region alone.

The Speakers

A donor family and two donor recipients will be speaking about their experiences.

Family members of Jennifer Mondschein will be present to honor her memory and donation of life. A 37-year-old patient in Allentown’s ICU, Jennifer was able to offer the lifesaving gift of organ donation upon her passing. What was the most difficult day for her family led to life-changing days for two other families. Her liver went to a 60-year-old woman, and her right kidney went to a man in his 30s.

David Adams received a heart transplant in 2021.

Stephen Thackrah received kidney and pancreas donations about seven years ago which allowed him to come off dialysis. He is no longer diabetic.