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Our mission is simple: to save and enhance the lives of as many people as possible through organ and tissue donation.

To make this possible:

Our Finance, Human Resources, Information Systems, Quality Improvement and Transportation staff provide the underlying support to keep our organization running seamlessly—from recruiting, training and retaining talented team members to maintaining databases, records and computer systems to transporting procurement teams, organs and tissues during donor cases.

Our Donor Resource Center Referral Coordinators answer hospital referral calls and coordinate communication among the entire Gift of Hope Organ & Tissue Donor Network team during potential and ongoing donation cases. In an average month, more than 3,800 calls are recieved by the 24/7 Donor Resource Center.

Our Donor Family Services staff provide families with follow-up support and information about their loved one’s donation, including the recipients who benefited. We also serve as liaisons between the donor family and recipients, providing information and facilitating communication as requested.

Our Hospital Development Coordinators work with hospital administrators, physicians, nurses and other staff to make donation possible at the 183 hospitals in our service area. We provide ongoing education and help develop donation protocols within hospitals to facilitate the donation process for involved physicians, nurses and allied healthcare staff as well as the families of potential donors.

Our full-service Histocompatibility Laboratory staff provide the infectious disease serologies, tissue typing, antibody identification and final cross-matching vital to matching donated organs and tissues with patients desperately awaiting them. Each year, we provide nearly 10,000 antibody screenings for patients awaiting kidney or kidney/pancreas transplants through the transplant centers in our service area and more than 100 dialysis centers.

Our Organ and Tissue Recovery Coordinators are on call 24 hours a day to respond to potential donor cases and coordinate all aspects of organ/tissue procurement and transplantation. Working with them are our Family Support Coordinators. With backgrounds in counseling, social work, ministry and related fields, they are specially trained to support donor families and provide information throughout the donation process.

Our Professional and Continuing Education office coordinates more than 300 workshops and programs every year to physicians, nurses, pastoral care staff and other medical professionals. Gift of Hope is accredited to issue continuing education units (CEUs) for nurses through the Illinois Nurses Association and for funeral service professionals through the Illinois Department of Professional Regulation.

Our Public Relations and Education staff coordinate programs and partnerships with schools, religious and civic organizations, and corporations to increase public support for donation and provide donor education. We also coordinate and train a network of more than 400 volunteer advocates through Illinois and northwest Indiana, who help us provide more than 900 education and donor registration programs each year. Our Community Relations staff focus on education among African-Americans, while our Hispanic Affairs staff coordinate outreach in Spanish-speaking communities.