Building a partnership with the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District (LVCCLD) has been a longstanding goal of Nevada Donor Network. In August, in honor of National Multicultural Donor Awareness Month (NMDAM), we were thrilled to announce that this was finally coming to fruition. 
LVCCLD will be bringing awareness to organ, eye and tissue donation by inviting our team to their community events to educate library patrons, sharing collateral in public areas and more. Additionally, our team donated more than 1,000 books which were distributed to 25 library branches across the valley! They included Howl the Owl, a series of children’s books that educate about the importance of organ donation. The books are titled, “Howl Gets a Heart”; “Howl Learns About Lungs”; “Howl Learns about Kidneys and Dialysis”; “Howl Loves His New Liver”; and “Howl Ama Su Nuevo Hígado” (written in Spanish) which were all authored by Brenda E. Cortez. Brenda is a living kidney donor who has a passion for helping others. She was inspired to write her first book, “My Mom is Having Surgery,” after her daughter centered her college entrance essay around Brenda’s donation and the inspiration she felt from it. Brenda is now a strong advocate for organ, eye and tissue donation awareness. Because of this advocacy and her passion for helping others, Brenda came up with the idea and meaning behind H.O.W.L. (Help Others with Love).
Aside from this children’s book series, we also donated 100 copies of “Transplant Hope,” an anthology including ten individuals’ stories about their donation journey, including grateful organ transplant recipients and courageous donor families. It highlights how they have been touched by the profound impact of organ, eye and tissue donation. This book is authored by Courtney Kaplan, a Nevadan and mother of teenage heroic donor, Michael "Mikey" Sigler, whose gift of life ultimately saved six lives through organ donation.
Why is this partnership so important to reaching our community?
Here are five powerful facts about the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District:
- In the last year, 3.85 million individuals visited one of the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District branches.
- In the last year, 11.25 million items have been checked out from the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District branches.
- There are currently 3.6 million items in the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District branches’ collection.
- As of 2024, there are 588,584 Las Vegas-Clark County Library District cardholders.
- In the last year, the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District branches have hosted 36,676 programs with 817,549 patrons in attendance.
Nevada Donor Network is proud of this new partnership and will continue to find innovative ways to grow it to better serve our community! Inspired? Register to be a hero now!