My favorite sportswriter, Rick Reilly, with a very powerful, emotional story about organ donors:

But Rudy wasn't there anymore. He was all over America. He had checked the donor box on his driver's license, so his lungs went here, his kidneys there, and his pancreas somewhere else. His heart stayed close, though. It went to a man named Sammy Robinson, 44, in nearby Hughes, Ark., who'd been waiting for eight months.

"Rudy saved my life," Sammy says. "I told his mom, 'I know you lost a son. But I want you to know you've gained another.'"

…There were 65 million registered donors in the U.S. in 2006. Now there are 102 million. That's still only 42 percent of 18-and-over Americans, but people are starting to get it: Death can mean life.

This is the easiest thing you can do to get the new year off to a great start – become an organ donor. Just go to http://donatelife.net/register-now/and select your state.

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December 29, 2011