Northern Michigan University is participating in the 15th annual Gift of Life Michigan Campus Challenge, an organ and tissue donor drive competition with 13 other Michigan colleges and universities.

The competition runs through Feb. 20 and allows NMU students, professors, alumni and community members to register as donors by bringing a valid driver’s license to one of the on-campus booths or going to the Gift of Life Michigan’s webpage. NMU has been participating in the competition for the past couple of years, said Volunteer Center Coordinator Samantha Black, a senior nursing major.

“The campus challenge is Gift of Life Michigan’s way of combining school rivalries with healthy competition and saving lives,” said Black.

As of Feb. 6, NMU is in third place in both the number of donors and percentage of students registered, according to Gift of Life Michigan’s webpage. One hundred students have registered since Jan. 16, the first day of the competition.

“It’s a very easy way to save someone’s life,” said Black. “It speaks for the kind of person that you are, if at the end of the day you think about what you can do for someone else.”

Each day in the United States, an average of 88 lives are saved by organ transplants, according to Gift of Life Michigan’s webpage. However, 22 people die daily waiting for a transplant.
“Our goal is to get more people registered and put on the list,” said Black. “A lot of people need transplants, and this is our way to help.”

Anyone interested in becoming a donor can visit GiftOfLifeMichigan.org/CampusChallenge and select NMU as your school or stop at one of the on-campus registration tables.

On-campus registration times and locations

• 1p.m.-5 p.m. Monday, Feb. 12, at the LRC circulation table.

• 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Tues- day, Feb. 13, at the Wildcat Health and Wellness Fair in the University Center.

•5:30p.m.-7:30p.m. Thursday, Feb. 15, in the Gant/Spalding lobby.

• 5:30p.m.-7 p.m. Tues- day, Feb. 20, at the LRC circulation table.