MOBILE – The annual National Donor Sabbath will be recognized on Nov. 10-12 as faith communities hold services and programs focused on the life-affirming gifts of hope passed to others by organ, tissue, marrow and blood donors.

The University of South Alabama Regional Transplant Center at USA Medical Center has materials available for local churches, along with sample sermons for various denominations and suggested readings for the day.

Dr. Velma Scantlebury, director of transplantation at the USA Regional Transplant Center, will participate in a Donor Sabbath service on Sunday, Nov. 12 at Revelation Baptist Church, 1711 Taylor Lane in Mobile, to help increase local awareness of the critical need for donors in this region.

National Donor Sabbath participation increases each year, but so does the need for donors. More than 28,000 organ transplants were performed nationwide in 2005, but as of April 2006, more than 92,000 people were on the organ transplant waiting list. Thousands of Americans each year need corneal or other tissue transplants, and an average of 3,000 individuals at any given time are searching for an unrelated marrow donor.

For more information on organ donation, transplantation or the National Donor Sabbath, please contact the USA Regional Transplant Center at USA Medical Center, 471-7391 or toll-free (877) 421-5704.