Written by Sophia Renner, Engagement Manager
As another life-saving school year draws to a close, SODA National is thrilled to celebrate the incredible achievements of our 2024 award winners. 🏆🎉
These dedicated individuals, organizations, and chapters have been instrumental in promoting organ, eye, and tissue donation within their communities and schools. By leading registration drives and hosting educational events, these advocates have shown a profound understanding of the importance of organ donation and have worked passionately to foster positive and productive conversations about the gift of life.
Join us in congratulating these outstanding advocates for their life-saving efforts, and let's continue supporting them as they lead the way toward a future where those in need of organ transplants can find renewed hope and healing.
Want the inside scoop on our chapters before we announce next year’s awards? Follow us on Instagram to keep up!
Most People Registered: SODA at The University of Alabama
SODA at the University of Alabama rocked the 2023-2024 school year by registering over 488 people as organ, eye, and tissue donors. 🤩 They snagged the award for “Most People Registered” during SODA’s first-ever Campus Challenge, in which twenty student-led teams from high schools, colleges, and graduate schools—comprising both existing SODA chapters and new student advocates—organized and participated in various point-winning activities. Their Registration Drive Competition for the Greek Life community during Homecoming Week was a huge success. With effective social media promotion and personalized Registerme.org campaigns, they registered an impressive 349 donors through this event alone. Amazing work, SODA at UA!
Check out the University of Alabama’s SODA Spotlight: SODA at the University of Alabama Gears Up for a Busy, Advocacy-Filled Year.
Most People Educated: SODA at West Virginia University
This past academic year, SODA at West Virginia University educated over 9,938 people about organ, eye, and tissue donation. Their creative education events spanned from a lively cornhole tournament at the rec center to Stanley Cup giveaways to hosting virtual guest speakers and donation heroes. We couldn’t be prouder of their hard work and innovation.
Most Impactful Registration Event: SODA at the University School of Milwaukee
SODA at the University School of Milwaukee took their mission to the streets by setting up registration tables at local community events, relying primarily on word of mouth to spread awareness about donation. Chapter President Krish Vasudev highlights the Cream City 5K as his favorite event, where the chapter collaborated with SODA at Brookfield East High School to register attendees as donors. It's truly inspiring to see students uniting to educate their community about the importance of organ donation.
Most Impactful Education Event: SODA at Temple University School of Pharmacy
SODA at Temple University School of Pharmacy got into the Valentine's spirit with their National Donor Day Giveaway. 💝 They handed out free candy grams to passersby, each packed with valuable information about the donor registration process. Chapter President Jinyoung Jang writes, “Our chapter gave out candy grams, and the joy on everyone's faces while learning [about donation] was truly spectacular.” What a sweet way to engage and inform their school community about the life-saving impact of donation.
Most Impactful Multicultural Outreach: SODA at the Advanced Math and Science Academy
The leaders of SODA at the Advanced Math and Science Academy organized a registration drive during an Eid al-Fitr community celebration. Chapter President Keshav Kumar expressed his dedication to dispelling myths and misconceptions about donation, particularly those based on religious beliefs. He highlights this event as his personal favorite, emphasizing the importance of addressing such misconceptions within his local community.
Most Impactful Media Feature: SODA at Virginia Commonwealth University
SODA at Virginia Commonwealth University partnered with LifeNet Health and the Hume-Lee Transplant Center to celebrate National Donate Life Month by registering VCU students as organ, eye, and tissue donors. Chapter President Ria Mohan tells SODA, “Autie [from LifeNet Health] tabled with us when partnering with the Hume-Lee Transplant Center and brought so much joy, positivity, and charm to the event! He is an absolute ray of sunshine.” A professor, previously unaffiliated with SODA at VCU, attended the registration drive in hopes of sharing her organ donation journey with passersby. Now, the professor is not only an advocate for the gift of life but also for student-led organ donation advocacy.
Check out SODA at VCU’s registration event on the local news: VCU event raises awareness about organ donation.
Best Donate Life Month Event: SODA at Chelsea High School
Inspired by this year's national Donate Life Month theme, "Donors are Superstars," SODA at Chelsea High School shined a light on donation. 🌠 Chapter President Carsyn Polk recalls the Celebration of Life Week as a standout event. This week-long initiative aimed to educate the entire Chelsea High School student body about organ, eye, and tissue donation, and support families of patients awaiting, undergoing, or recovering from transplants. By the end of the week, all 1,433 students were educated about organ donation, 21 new donors joined the national registry, and over 60 ‘Wish List’ items were donated to the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Alabama. It was a fulfilling week of collaboration, celebration, and life-saving advocacy.
Best Donation Collaboration: SODA at Brookfield East High School
SODA at Brookfield East High School co-hosted the Daniel Gives Back blood drive with help from the Versiti Blood Center of Wisconsin. The chapter posted to social media, “Thank you to our 60+ donors at the first ever BEHS SODA and 6th Daniel Gives Back blood drive! Thank you so much [Versiti Blood Center of Wisconsin] for helping us run such a successful event and Brookfield East High School for hosting. BEHS SODA has positively impacted 141 patient lives through this drive, and Daniel Gives Back has hit 1186 patient lives affected and about 400 blood products collected.”
Best OPO Collaboration: Infinite Legacy and Jasmine Windham
With four active SODA chapters, Infinite Legacy is a champion for student-led organ donation advocacy in Maryland; Northern Virginia; and Washington, D.C. Community Outreach Coordinator Latrice Price collaborated with Jasmine Windham, one of SODA’s 2023 HBCU Organ, Eye, and Tissue Donation Advocacy Scholarship recipients, to host a Pizza and Perspectives panel at Morgan State University. 🍕🤝 The panel included donor family members and transplant recipients, who discussed and dispelled myths and misconceptions about organ donation while encouraging students to join the national donor registry. We’re incredibly proud of Jasmine and thankful for Infinite Legacy's support.
Most Promising New Chapter: SODA at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
SODA at the University of Wisconsin-Madison hit the ground running, and in less than a year, they educated over 591 people about organ donation and added 23 new donors to the national registry. According to Chapter President Aidan Fischer, their standout event was Donuts and Donors, where they treated students to free donuts while discussing the importance of organ donation. 🍩 Their hard work leaves us eagerly anticipating what they will achieve in the future. Keep up the amazing work, SODA at UW-Madison!
SODA Chapter MVP: Tori Termini
Tori Termini was nominated by a fellow chapter leader at Louisiana State University who writes, “Tori went beyond expectations this year and helped [our chapter] so much. We first got connected through our OPO due to the both of us struggling with our grief. Tori put countless hours into our [chapter] by creating social media posts, buying food, educating people, and sharing our [chapter] with her sorority (which helped us grow tremendously). Tori is an exceptional leader and deserves all the credit for our success!! We love our wonderful Tori.” Tori, thank you for your life-saving advocacy efforts. 🤗
SODA Advisor MVP: Amanda Gallups
Amanda Gallups was nominated by a SODA at Oak Mountain High School chapter leader who writes, “Mrs. Gallups helped take care of students who did not feel good after donating [blood] and encouraged students to come talk to [our chapter] about organ donation. She is a phenomenal advisor, and I am beyond grateful we have her.” Thank you, Amanda, for supporting student-led organ, eye, and tissue donation advocacy.
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