ImpactLife joins in statewide celebration of National Donor Day

Published by Kirby Winn on Saturday, February 14, 2026 in News Releases

ImpactLife joined donor families, grateful recipients, and transplant advocates in a gathering with lawmakers at the Iowa State Capitol on Thursday, Feb. 12 to honor the life-saving legacy of eye, organ, tissue, blood and marrow donation, and spotlight the need for ongoing anatomical donation across Iowa.

The event was hosted by Iowa Lions Eye Bank, Iowa Donor Network, ImpactLife, Lifeserve Blood Center, DeGowin Blood Center and NMDP (formerly Be the Match) and took place in the first-floor Iowa State Capitol Rotunda in Des Moines. The following speakers shared remarks about the experience with blood, organ, marrow, eye, and tissue donation.

• Alma Brunson, Muscatine, mother of tissue and eye donor Micaela Brunson, and blood donation advocate
• Ginger Whitmore, Ankeny, who received a double lung transplant about 3 ½ years ago
• Beth Ades, Webster City, who received blood and bone marrow transplants 5 years ago for Myelodysplastic Syndrome
• Paula Lofgren, Muscatine, blood donation advocate
• Rep. Jennifer Konfrst, D-West Des Moines, cornea recipient and anatomical donation advocate

National Donor Day, established in 1998, is observed annually on February 14. It is dedicated to raising awareness, registering new donors, and honoring those who have saved and healed lives through donation. In 2025 alone,

• 981 Iowans were cornea or whole eye donors, with 806 corneas transplanted
• 124 Iowans were organ donors, with 376 organs transplanted
• 1,308 Iowans were tissue donors
• 5,500 Iowans donated blood and platelets to patients at UI Health Care and Stead Family Children’s Hospital
• More than 100,000 Iowans gave the gift of blood and platelets through ImpactLife, DeGowin Blood Center and Lifeserve Blood Center

In Iowa alone, 637 people are awaiting an organ transplant. One donor can give the gift of life to 8 people, the gift of sight to two people, and countless others through tissue and blood donation.

Iowa Donor Day

• 
  Chris Cournoyer, Lt. Governor with Katie Marchik, Chief Operating Officer in the Capitol Rotunda
• 
  State Sen. Mark Lofgren, Paula Lofgren, Brian Brunson, and Alma Brunson
• 
  Supporters of anatomical donation gather in the Iowa State Capitol Rotunda
• 
  Supporters of anatomical donation gather in the Iowa State Capitol Rotunda
• 
  Alma Brunson and Brian Brunson
• 
  Paula Lofgren
• 
  Katie Marchik, Chief Operating Officer; Kirby Winn, Manager, Public Relations; State Sen. Mark Lofgren, Paula Lofgren

HOW TO GET INVOLVED IN DONATION:

Iowa Donor Registry (eye, organ and tissue donation) https://form.iowadonorregistry.org/DonorRegistration/Create

DeGowin Blood Center Appointments: www.uidegowinbloodcenter.org

ImpactLife Donor Center Locations: https://www.bloodcenter.org/donate/locations/

LifeServe Donor Center Locations: https://www.lifeservebloodcenter.org/about-us/hours-locations/

Join the stem cell registry: https://www.nmdp.org/get-involved/join-the-registry

IOWA LIONS EYE BANK (https://iowalionseyebank.org/)

Founded in 1955, we specialize in recovering, processing, and distributing ocular tissue for life-changing transplants and groundbreaking research. Proudly affiliated with the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at University of Iowa Health Care, we’re committed to advancing vision care and inspiring hope for a brighter future.

IOWA DONOR NETWORK (www.iowadonornetwork.org/)

Iowa Donor Net­work (IDN), incorporated in 1994, serves as the cru­cial con­nec­tion between organ and tis­sue donors, health­care pro­fes­sion­als, com­mu­ni­ty part­ners, donor fam­i­lies, and those await­ing trans­plant. IDN is Iowa’s sole organ pro­cure­ment orga­ni­za­tion and is one of only 55 fed­er­al­ly cer­ti­fied non­prof­it orga­ni­za­tions that make up the nation’s organ dona­tion net­work.

DEGOWIN BLOOD CENTER (https://pathology.medicine.uiowa.edu/degowin-blood-center)

DeGowin Blood Center, founded in 1938, collects blood products for University of Iowa Health Care patients. We encourage donations of whole blood or blood components via apheresis at our fixed site.

IMPACTLIFE (https://www.bloodcenter.org/)

ImpactLife, founded in 1974, provides lifesaving blood products to more than 120 hospitals and emergency medical service providers in a four-state region. We’re headquartered in Davenport, Iowa, and have distribution hubs and donor centers in Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, and Wisconsin.  

LIFESERVE BLOOD CENTER (www.lifeservebloodcenter.org/)

LifeServe Blood Center is a non-profit, community-based blood center that has served the needs of local hospitals and patients in our regions since 1947. As one of the 15 largest blood centers in the country, LifeServe provides blood products to 175 hospitals primarily in Iowa, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Illinois. 

NMDP, Formerly Be the Match (www.nmdp.org/)

We’re a global nonprofit leader in cell therapy, helping find cures and save lives for patients with blood cancers and disorders. With the help of blood stem cell donors from the world's most diverse registry and our extensive network of transplant partners, physicians and caregivers, we're expanding access to treatment so that every patient can receive their life-saving cell therapy. Founded in 1987.