Get an Organ Donor Card and Save a Life

Florida Organ and tissue Donation, Tranflife, Get Carded, Florida Coalition on Donation, UCF, UF, University, AUF, USF, UNF, Central

Our Humble Beginning
Oftentimes, big things hatch from humble beginnings, which was the case for Get Carded. Julie Williams played a prominent role in its creation. As student director for Volunteer UCF, an organization at the University of Central Florida, she developed service projects, directed volunteers to nonprofit organizations and sparked spirit throughout the campus community.

One of the service projects she wanted to create involved organ and tissue donation—a topic she encountered in high school when her friend became ill while waiting for a lung transplant. Unfortunately, his hope for a second chance at life was never realized. His death made Julie’s work as a volunteer more meaningful.

On the Move
To get the ball rolling, a small group of volunteers joined Julie and TransLife, their local organ, tissue and kidney transplant program. In spring of 1997, Get Carded emerged on the Orlando UCF campus as an education and music festival. Its goal: To save lives by rallying campus support for organ and tissue donation. Hundreds of students attended and thousands more received donor cards, information and read about the effort in the campus paper. Get Carded soon became a year-round effort.

Full Speed Ahead
In 1999, the Florida Coalition on Donation—a nonprofit alliance of statewide organ donor programs, tissue banks, eye banks and other interested individuals and organizations dedicated to saving and improving lives through organ and tissue donation—adopted the Get Carded program for statewide campus expansion.

Next Stop…Bull Country
The Florida Coalition on Donation selected the University of South Florida as the first sister campus of Get Carded. New ideas met the distinctive environment and culture of this Tampa university. The unique element of the campaign is peer-to-peer education, which allows students to teach students. They propel the effort and ultimately determine its success.

On the Run
Today, Get Carded is active on six campuses, including Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, the University of Florida in Gainesville, the University of North Florida in Jacksonville and our newest campus, Florida State University in Tallahassee.