Donate Life WELD (We Encourage Living Donation), also known as DL/WELD, is a community-based, peer-to-peer program of Donate Life America (DLA) that brings living donors and living donation and transplantation professionals together to educate and encourage the public about living donation.
Living donation is one way we can give more people access to the lifesaving transplant they need.
What do DL/WELD members do?
DL/WELD members educate about living donation benefits and risks in presentations to community-based groups such as service organizations, faith communities, civic and social groups, et al. They also engage with their local communities to help inspire others and foster a culture that understands and embraces living donation.
No one can tell the living donation story as well as someone who has experienced it. Donate Life WELD harnesses the power of living donors’ personal stories and their desire to advocate for a cause close to them. DL/WELD members, living donors and living donation and transplantation professionals, serve as first-hand, approachable resources for those with questions about living donation.
“I’d say it’s among the best, and best feeling, decisions I’ve ever made.”
Diane B, living donor
How can I get involved with Donate Life WELD?
Contact the DL/WELD Coordinator for help with:
- Encouraging & learning about living donation
DL/WELD can help connect you with a speaker for your community group or organization. - Connecting with someone who has been through the experience of living donation
DL/WELD offers a safe, conversational and confidential place to ask non-medical questions that a prospective donor might not feel comfortable asking a physician or in a clinical setting. - Joining or starting a DL/WELD chapter in your area
DL/WELD chapters are open to living donors and living donation and transplantation professionals. Chapters are affiliated with Donate Life State Teams or their member organizations (e.g., transplant hospitals). Note: DL/WELD is focused on living donation education. For individual or group counseling resources, please contact your transplant hospital’s living donation program.
How did DL/WELD start?
In 2015, Women Encouraging Living Donation (WELD) was founded by former Donate Life America board member Diane Brockington. The program generated interest from living donors beyond the original chapter in San Diego, California, and chapters were started in additional locations. To facilitate national growth, in 2018 Diane transitioned WELD to be a program of Donate Life America. Now known as Donate Life WELD (We Encourage Living Donation), the program is open to all people who are living donors and living donation and transplantation professionals.
