Progress has been made in the past few years - families have started to approach hospital staff about donation of organs and tissues - but there is still a long way to go to meet the need, said Barb Nies, chairman of Medcenter One's Donor Resource Team.

Public information and education has boosted the numbers of people who have decided to donate organs and tissue upon their death, but it is estimated that more than 82,000 people are still on waiting lists for transplantation, she said; 16 people a day die, waiting.

Polls show that people favor organ donation to about 85 percent to 90 percent, said Len Swanson, executive director of the Lions Eye Bank of North Dakota. But only about 40 percent do donate, said Nies.

That's why this weekend, Friday to Sunday, is called National Donor Sabbath. Churches and synagogues all over the country are being asked to spread the word about organ and tissue donation to their congregations. Burnie Kunz, chaplain at Medcenter One and a member of the resource team, visited with local clergy through the ministerial association.

Most religions and most cultures are accepting of donation, Nies said.

According to LifeSource Upper Midwest Organ Procurement Organization, based in St. Paul, Minn., more than 200 congregations participated last year in 125 communities in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Those are the areas in which LifeSource, selected by the federal government, manages all organ donation activities.

People often look at donation as a way to bring something good out of a tragedy - the death of someone they love, said Connie Stewart, Intensive Care Unit chairwoman on the team.

"One person can help up to 40 others," Nies said. Many parts of the body can be donated, such as kidney, liver, heart, lungs, pancreas, bone, skin, corneas.

"We're recyclable," Kunz said.

Young people seem to be particularly willing to be part of this process.

Their attitude is, "I'm going to change the world for the better," Kunz said.

People who work with families are called certified donor requesters, trained to answer families' questions and deal sensitively with them. In fact, by law, hospitals are required to have certified donor requesters ask about donation after a death.

St. Alexius Medical Center also has certified donor requesters who follow a strict protocol about visiting with families, said chaplain Darrell Aleson. St. Alexius' organ and tissue donation focus group meets quarterly with representatives of LifeSource, the North Dakota Eye Bank and Red Cross Tissue Donation Services, Aleson said.

It's not enough to want to be a donor - you have to let your family know, Nies said. In a handful of cases statewide, some families have refused to allow donation despite their relative having requested to be a donor, Swanson said. In those cases, the family's wishes are respected, Stewart said.

Ethics in this field is of the highest importance, said Ione Eckroth, dialysis coordinator on the Medcenter One team. The well-being of the patient is the highest priority, Stewart said. Tests are given to determine brain death, which is different from cardiac death, she said.

"Our first concern is for the patient," Eckroth said. Then, it's "what can we do for the families?"

"All care is given," Stewart said. "We try to heal the patient until we can't anymore."

Donation is really a gift of love, Nies said. "Love for someone you don't even know."

Other information they'd like the public to know:

* There is no cost to donate.

* Nothing is wasted, Nies said. Organs are only unusable in cases such as substance abuse, infectious disease or extreme age. Even tissues that cannot be transplanted are extremely valuable for research, Stewart said.

* Donor and recipient families do not know each other's identities unless both parties request it.

The most important thing people can do if they want to be a donor is to talk it over with their families and make sure others know their wishes. Checking the donor box on your driver's license also is important.

For more information, visit http://www.life-source.org.

(Reach Karen Hertzog at 250-8267 or krherzog@ndonline.com.)