It's been a couple years since I last posted about this, but I felt it was worth revisiting today (apologies for the pseudo-repost). I wanted to again make a short blog post to remind everyone of the importance of being an organ donor. As some long-time PortableApps.com users know, I donated a kidney to my father 15 years ago today. Over the years, I've coached a few people though the process as well. If anyone is in a position where you're thinking of donating to a friend or loved one, I'm more than happy to share my experience and advice.

More importantly, there's something you can do today that won't require much on your part: signing up for the organ donor program in your state or country. In the US alone, 120,000 people are currently waiting for an organ. The best part is that becoming a donor is relatively easy (become a donor in the US). If you're not in the US, there's likely a similar organization in your country. Once registered, if something happens to you, you can leave a legacy behind by saving the lives of others. In some countries, being an organ donor is the default unless you opt-out. So, be sure to check what your country's policies are and that you're registered.

If you'd like to do something a bit more, you can also sign up to donate bone marrow through Be The Match. Bone marrow donation can help and even cure life-threatening blood cancers like leukemia and lymphoma. You make an optional (but encouraged) donation, swab your cheek, and then wait to see if you match someone who needs a bone marrow transplant. If they do, there's a process to donation that's explained on the site. It's a bit more involved than donating blood, but since you'll be responsible for directly saving someone's life, it's worth it.

Lastly, there's always signing up to give blood. Your local blood bank or hospital will have the details on it. It's doesn't take too long, doesn't hurt much, and your single pint of blood can be used to help save up to three lives.

That's it for this quick blog post. I apologize for going off the topic of portable apps again, but I wanted to share something that was important to me. And, who knows, together, we could help save the life of someone who goes on to develop cool new software for us all to enjoy. There, now it's related!

Have a great week and thank you for your time.

Best,

John