Written by Nicole Nidea, Program Director
We have BIG news, so cue the drum roll 🥁
SODA now has 50+ organ donation advocacy chapters on high school and college campuses across the country! That means there are 250+ student leaders who are advocating for organ, eye, and tissue donation and saving lives everyday.
Is one of our 50+ chapters near you? Check out our chapter map here.
Although our organ donation chapter network is vast now, SODA started with just one chapter at Washington University in St. Louis in 2014. Sara, our President and Founder, established the original chapter with a group of WashU students after her sister, Laura, saved a special education teacher’s life as an organ donor.
Through education and registration events, SODA at WashU had success saving lives, so SODA National was formed in 2017 and began to support student organ donation advocates on other campuses nationwide. By 2020, SODA National was an official organ donation nonprofit.
We’ve grown a lot since then, so we’re celebrating. And we want you to join us.
Mark this momentous occasion by making a $50 gift to SODA. Your gift will provide students with funding to host an organ, eye, and tissue donation advocacy event on campus, like:
Esther from SODA at Adlai E. Stevenson High School whose chapter needed donuts for a “Donuts for Donors” event at their cross country meet.
Amy from SODA at Texas A&M University whose chapter paid a registration fee to be part of a university-organized event.
Aryana from SODA at Miami Palmetto Senior High School whose chapter awarded gift cards to participants in their National Kidney Month door decorating contest.
Gift a SODA chapter an event with a $50 gift so our students can continue to save lives! Donate now.
Events like these have enabled our chapters to educate 40,161 people about organ, eye, and tissue donation and register 2,987 people as organ, eye, and tissue donation since 2014. Supporters, like you, have been crucial to SODA’s ability to reach so many student organ donation advocates and help them make such a life-saving impact. And they're just getting started
The need is great with 106,000 Americans waiting for a transplant, and we have the opportunity to save more lives with your help, especially now that we have 50+ chapters, so I hope you’ll join the celebration with a financial donation to SODA.