Donor Alliance, the federally-designated, non-profit organ procurement organization and American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB) accredited tissue bank serving Colorado and most of Wyoming today announced its receipt of three Gold Leaf Awards from the Colorado Healthcare Communicators (CHC). The annual awards program recognizes excellence in healthcare communication by local organizations and professionals.

Donor Alliance received three honors from the 2012 CHC Gold Leaf Awards:

–          A Gold Leaf Award in the Ongoing Community Relations category for the Transplantation Science initiative. Donor Alliance offers the free program for seventh through 12th grade students in Colorado and Wyoming as a community service teaching young people about the science behind organ, eye and tissue donation and transplantation around the time they apply for their first driver’s license. In the 2011/2012 school year, Donor Alliance revamped classroom materials, reached more than 5,500 Colorado students and expanded to include Wyoming classrooms for the first time.

–          A Silver Leaf Award in the Large Events (2,500+ attendees) category for the Donor Dash. The Donor Dash is the signature event hosted each July by Donor Alliance as a way to raise awareness for organ, eye and tissue donation in Colorado and Wyoming. Launched in 1999, the Donor Dash has grown into one of Denver’s larger 5K races and the region’s forefront public event for organ, eye and tissue donation. The 2012 event increased attendance by 5% over 2011 with 4,278 participants, making it the largest Donor Dash ever. Additionally, the 2012 event had more sponsors than ever before with a total of 19, a 36% increase over 2011.

–          A Silver Leaf Award in the Writing Speeches/Editorials category for an original byline published in the Denver Post. April is National Donate Life Month, a month-long observance honoring the generosity of organ, eye and tissue donors and their families and commemorating all transplant recipients in the U.S. This year, as a part of the PR efforts surrounding National Donate Life Month, Donor Alliance placed a contributed editorial from President and CEO Sue Dunn about the topic in the state’s largest newspaper, the Denver Post, generating terrific local visibility. (The Denver Post website boasts more than 2 million unique visitors per month.)

“The members of our community are our chief ambassadors, because their generosity in pledging to be donors makes the miracle of organ, eye and tissue donation and transplantation possible. So our marketing and communications programs targeting residents of Colorado and Wyoming are key priorities,” said Sue Dunn, president and CEO of Donor Alliance. “We are very pleased to be recognized by Colorado Healthcare Communicators for a handful of our communications programs that demonstrate excellence in promoting and educating about donation.”

Since the 1970s, CHC has honored professionals in public relations, communications and marketing through the annual Gold Leaf Awards competition. CHC is the only Colorado member organization that exclusively honors local healthcare communicators and marketing professionals. The categories include: advertising, collateral pieces, annual reports, communications programs, community relations, media relations, websites, presentations, writing, newsletters, new media and more.

The Colorado Healthcare Communicators’ annual Gold Leaf Awards ceremony and dinner was held Thursday, October 18, 2012 at the Sherman Street Event Center in downtown Denver. A full list of winners can be found on the Colorado Healthcare Communicators website.