The Annual Donate Life Volleyball Game at Holyoke High School in Massachusetts is a long-standing tradition started by NEDS volunteer Ardazan Dinnis and his family. Ardazan was a heart recipient at age 10 and a staunch advocate promoting the importance of registering to be an organ donor. Ardazan passed away in 2021 at the age of 23 and is honored at the volleyball game every year.

Thank you, Holyoke High School, and the students, for their efforts to promote donation and celebrate Ardazan. #DonateLife

The 2025 Donation & Transplantation Symposium brought together experts, advocates, and healthcare professionals to advance the conversation on saving lives through organ and tissue donation. The symposium was co-planned by NEDS’ Hospital Donation Strategist, Tammy Gibson; and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center’s Clinical Advisor - Education in Inpatient Abdominal Organ Transplant Unit, Tracy Barton. This event highlighted collaboration, innovation, and dedication to a shared mission. Thank you to all who made it possible! #DonateLife

On Monday, New England Donor Services joined state legislators, volunteers, recipients, and donor family members at the State Capitol in Vermont to celebrate #DonateLifeMonth and highlight the importance of organ and tissue donation.

Watch more below. WCAX-TV

“Jaxon Joseph Podbielski was a beautiful and amazing 5-year-old full of questions and compassion. When Xochil was pregnant with him, we chose the name Jax because it stood for “Justin and Xochil,” and he was the best parts of us wrapped together. He was creative and kind. Curious and helpful. Selfless and inspiring. He told us he wanted to make the world a better place for the animals he loved. He was a great sharer and always made sure his baby sister Ariela, had whatever he had.”

“He always rooted for the bad guys in shows and stories. At first, we thought it was strange because Jaxon himself was such a good kid, but it became his thing, and he owned it. He would ask at the beginning of any new movie or show who the bad guy was in this. I can still hear him talking over the movie, “Is that the bad guy?!?” Turns out, Jaxon didn’t like them because they were bad but rather because he was trying to find out what redeemed them. Liking the good guy is easy. Liking the bad guy takes a level of empathy that only Jaxon had.”

“The CT Blue & Green Walk/5k marks 6 months from Jaxon’s tragic drowning accident in the CT river. We knew how important it was for him to help save someone else, so we made the gut-wrenching decision to donate his organs because it was what he would have wanted. If he couldn’t be here, he would want to know that he helped some other kids and families from feeling the pain we carry. Jaxon saved 4 lives with his gift of life, and his heart has prevented another 5-year-old boy and his family from knowing our tragedy.”

“We are so proud of Jaxon and how he lived his short life. He may have always rooted for the bad guy, but he will always be our hero. We did not know happiness until Jaxon was born. We did not know sadness until he died. But we do know that his legacy lives on in the lives he saved and we hope his story can bring awareness to NEDS and the important work of organ donation.”

Check out Team Jaxon’s Bad Guy’s Walk Fundraising page here: https://www.classy.org/team/640995

This week, New England Donor Services held a hospital and community program, in recognition of National #DonateLifeMonth, at Sturdy Memorial Hospital in Attleboro, MA. Done Vida New England Sturdy Health

Thank you to Kent and Billy for sharing their inspiring stories of donation and lung transplantation, respectively.

"Nearly one-third of kidneys recovered never make it to a patient." CBS Evening News investigates the life-saving work of Organ Procurement Organizations and why a growing number of organs they recover go unused. Misaligned federal regulations that force OPOs and transplant centers to work at cross purposes must be changed to address this issue and save more lives. Learn more below.