About Us:

Lifesharing is one of 58 regional non-profits dedicated to the life-saving and life-enhancing benefits of organ and tissue donation. Lifesharing provides organ recovery, donor family support, and educational services for the diverse population of approximately 3 million people in San Diego and Imperial Counties. Organ and tissue procurement services supply 28 donor hospitals and four local transplant centers with transplantable organs for the ever-growing waiting list of nearly 2,200 San Diego patients and more than 123,000 patients nationwide.

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inezbutterflyhq Saving Lives Through Organ and Tissue Donation Saving Lives Through Organ and Tissue Donation
April is Donate Life Month

April is Donate Life Month

Lifesharing is proud to celebrate National Donate Life Month. Observed every year since 2003, Donate Life Month is meant to encourage people to register as organ, eye and tissue donors and to honor those who have saved lives through the gift of donation.

Leave a Tribute

Leave a tribute for your loved one in the online Donor Hero Garden

Download Social Graphics

Download Donate Life Month graphics for use on social media

Watch Our Video

Watch Lifesharing’s Donate Life Month kickoff video

Lifesharing Helps Vaccinate Thousands at Petco Park

Lifesharing Vaccination Site

Lifesharing is proud to have been part of an amazing effort to keep the San Diego community safe from COVID-19. Our staffers routinely volunteered at the Vaccination Super Station from the day it opened until the day it closed. Lifesharing Executive Director Lisa Stocks served as Site Manager on several different occasions and our organ procurement nurses helped administer shots. Our tissue team and administrative staff helped run supplies, give directions and assist with other important tasks. As Lifesharing’s Clinical Supervisor Charles Wainaina explained, “The community at large has participated in organ donation. Basically, they have helped us save lives. So for us, this was a way of giving back to the community that has given us so much.” Our special thanks to UC San Diego Health, the Padres and the County of San Diego for spearheading this extraordinary health initiative.

Lifesharing Saves a Record Number of Lives During the Pandemic

Lifesharing team members created a memorial wreath to honor recent organ and tissue donors

Lifesharing saved a record 424 lives in 2020, successfully overcoming extraordinary challenges presented by COVID-19. Determined to carry out their mission, our team achieved two incredible milestones: a record 143 organ donors and a record 424 organs transplanted in a single year. These efforts were made possible by the amazing generosity of our donor families and the phenomenal support of our hospital partners. In addition to saving lives, Lifesharing also facilitated the donation of 66 organs for research and coordinated tissue donation for 455 individuals last year. To ensure the safety of the transplantation process, all organ and tissue donors are being tested for COVID-19. In announcing the record year, Lifesharing Executive Director Lisa Stocks told her staff, “This is unprecedented. The only way I can explain it is that the team persevered… I have so much gratitude in my heart for our staff, hospitals and families.”

Be Part of Lifesharing’s Memorial Rock Garden

Memorial Rock Garden


Dedicated in early 2021, Lifesharing’s Memorial Rock Garden is a peaceful spot under the trees where donor families can place stones in memory of their loved ones. The small garden is located in front of our offices in Mission Valley for all to enjoy.

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Lifesharing Organ Donor Honored in 2021 Rose Parade Celebration

One of Lifesharing’s heroes was recognized on New Year’s Day in a stunning tribute unveiled in Pasadena. Leia Parker, 2, was one of 21 organ donors memorialized on the 2021 Donate Life floral sculpture titled, “Community of Life.” The artwork was displayed on the lawn of the Tournament House and was the only floral installation in Pasadena this year, due to the cancelation of the Rose Parade. Leia’s floragraph, a portrait carefully crafted with seeds and coffee, was showcased in a vibrant honeycomb surrounded by fresh flowers and giant colorful bees. (The design symbolized the strength of community and the importance of working together, much like honeybees do.) This beautiful exhibit was a fitting tribute to Leia, a happy and bright little girl who loved mermaids and unicorns. Named after Princess Leia from Star Wars, young Leia was indeed a “rebel” — her parents nicknamed her General Leia because she “ruled” the Parker family home with joyous laughter. On Star Wars Day 2019, a swimming accident sent Leia to the hospital and, despite all efforts, her life could not be saved. Her parents donated her organs and she saved three lives when Lifesharing found matching recipients for her heart, liver and kidneys. Leia’s corneas were also donated, giving sight to two women. Through the gift of life, Leia gave each recipient a new hope…

The 2021 Donate Life Floral Sculpture Unveiled

Tribute to Lifesharing’s 2021 Rose Parade Honoree Leia Parker

News Coverage: 10News on 1/1/21

The Act of Giving is Sacred

When a family says ‘yes’ to organ or tissue donation, they give patients a priceless gift: the chance for a new and better life. The value of this gift — and the fact that it is given during a time of great pain and sorrow — is never lost on us. During the holidays, we make an effort to give back to the community that has given so much. Our Family Services Team — including Camille and Paulina, pictured here — adopted a family and organized a gift drive for them. A few days before Christmas, they left our office with a car full of gifts which they delivered to the family’s door. It’s a small gesture of goodwill to show our overwhelming gratitude to this amazing community in which we live and serve. At Lifesharing, we are humbled to carry out organ and tissue donation in San Diego and Imperial Counties. We are beyond grateful to all of our donor families and hospital partners who have helped us with our mission 🙏

Thank you all for being part of the Lifesharing family. Sending you peace and love this holiday season.

Lifesharing Honors its Organ and Tissue Donors for Día de los Muertos
(Day of the Dead) 2020

Every year, Lifesharing creates a beautiful ofrenda (altar) to honor its recent heroes. Celebrated on November 1 and 2, Día de los Muertos is a Mexican holiday where it’s believed that the spirits of our deceased loved ones return to earth.

Lifesharing team members spend hours creating traditional sugar skulls for each donor — personalizing them in unique and beautiful ways: Watch video here.

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Lifesharing’s First Ever “Digital Day of Remembrance”

Lifesharing traditionally holds an annual memorial ceremony to honor its recent organ and tissue donors. This year however, COVID-19 forced the cancellation of the event due to the ban on mass gatherings. Still determined to honor our heroes, we instead created a film to honor our donors. It was officially released on October 23, 2020: Watch video here.

Art was not her only gift to the world

San Diegan Claire Tipler was an expressive visual artist who loved painting, photography and dance. When she passed away at the age of 21, she saved 3 adults and one child through organ donation. (Lifesharing found matching recipients for her heart, liver and kidneys.) Over the summer of 2020, Claire’s mother organized an art project in memory of her daughter and our team was humbled to take part. In this video produced by Lifesharing, Claire’s parents describe her passion for art and adventure and how organ donation helped them find meaning in the wake of their daughter’s death. In a second video for Lifesharing, Claire’s mother describes the organ donation process step-by-step, calling it “a sacred process.” Watch video here.

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Heart Recipient Invites Organ Donor’s Family to His Wedding

 

In the late 1990s, Chris Truxaw collapsed at school. A firefighter approached Christopher’s mother with tears in his eyes, as he explained that her son’s heart had stopped. Chris was eventually placed on the waiting list for a new heart at the tender age of 13. Without a transplant, doctors gave him only six months to live. Chris was getting weaker by the day — he was confined to a wheelchair and his skin was blue from a lack of oxygen.

And then, his family got the call — a matching heart had been found. The 10-year-old organ donor hero did what no doctor could do…. he saved Christopher’s life. A few years later, Chris honored his donor by competing in the 2002 Transplant Games. In a speech, he told the crowd: “He [the heart donor] freed me from my cell… I rose from the dead, able to rejoin humanity.”

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