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Popcorn can make a topic pop.

I had not heard that April is National Donate Life Month, that is until I returned to the Danville office and saw a box with a tin of popcorn from the folks at Donate Life KY. Score one for whoever thought of sending it out to create awareness among the media in the hopes of gaining coverage.

Along with the tin was a postcard thanking me for supporting the lifesaving mission of organ, tissue and eye donation, signed by the staff and directing me to get more information by emailing info@donatelifeky.org, calling 866-945-5433 or visiting DonateLifeKY.org. I chose the latter and soon was reading stories about all the people helped by those who chose to donate, and then I checked my license to make sure the logo was there, although in a different place with the new Real ID format.

I suggest you also go to the site at DonateLifeKY.org and see for yourself. You will see that there are more than 2.3 million registered donors nationwide. You will also see that only 59% of Kentuckians have joined the Kentucky Donor Registry, but 85% said they would like to donate and 97% of Kentuckians have a positive view of donation.

So here is your chance to close the gap. You can register online at Registerme.org or via the link at DonateLifeKY.org. Of course, you can also opt-in when you renew your license, but if you want to register and are not yet, why not do it right now?

There are so many people in need, more than 1,000 in Kentucky alone, who can benefit. According to the website, each organ donor can save up to eight lives. One tissue donor can heal more than 50 lives. Every year, more than 1,000 Kentuckians have eyesight restored through a cornea transplant. Of course, these sorts of donations are made possible because someone decided to turn sadness or tragedy into life, but there are also living donations that can be made for many types of organs such as kidneys and segments of the liver, lung and pancreas without reduced function to the donor.

As I type this, I know of two people, one young father and an ex-neighbor from when we lived in Rowlett, Texas, who are in need of a kidney. I’m sure you know someone who has or could benefit from others who take a few minutes to register. This is among the easiest ways to give to others, and I urge you to register today to make someone’s life pop with joy.