BILLINGS - There are currently 100,000 people waiting for an organ transplant in the United States, but only close to 7,000 got one in the first half of 2008. The organization called Lifesharers began in 2002 and is trying to motivate more people to become donors. Their theory is, if you're willing to donate you should be first to receive if you're ever in need. If a member dies, their organs are first made available to others in the network in need of a transplant.
One member residing in Billings says she has been a donor since she turned 18, but she joined the Lifesharers network after learning more about the group's philosophy. "I wouldn't want to exclude someone who needed an organ but if someone is willing to give why not give to them first. They've thought about it and that's how life is, you give, I give." says Shelley Dolan.
"I saw all this terrible waste, there are 8,000 people in the us that die every year waiting for an organ transplant, I don't understand why it's fair to give organs to people who aren't willing to donate their organs." says Executive Director Dave Undis.
Undis also helped start Lifesharers. Lifesharers has 12,000 members, and 46 of them are in Montana.
The United Network for Organ Sharing doesn't support the organization, saying they don't think the practice is fair.