There are approximately 3,000 of our family members, friends and neighbors in Michigan currently awaiting an organ transplant—and the miracle of a second chance at life.

For some, the wait for a donor organ may take years. For others, the phone call announcing that one has been found may never come. The difference a lifesaving transplant can make for recipients and their loved ones is profound. It can give them more time and more memories together.

There were 327 organ donors in our state last year—a record high. Despite this good news, there is still a large gap between the number of people in need and the number of organs recovered for transplantation.

At the Department of State, we’re committed to promoting organ donation and increasing the number of names on the Michigan Organ Donor Registry, which now stands at 1.5 million.

April is National Donate Life Month, and this department, along with our partners Gift of Life Michigan and the Michigan Eye-Bank, is taking additional steps to raise awareness of the fact that the more potential organ donors there are, the more lives will be saved through transplants.

By choosing to give the gift of life, a single donor through organ and tissue donation has the potential to save or improve the lives of up to 50 people.

The most important thing a person can do to donate life is join the state’s secure and confidential donor registry. This can be done in a minute at any Secretary of State branch office or by visiting the Web site below.

When you “Show Us Your Heart” and tell us you’d like to donate by adding your name to the registry, you’ll receive a heart sticker to place on the front of your driver’s license or personal ID card. Placing a heart sticker above your photo on your license is the best way to quickly inform medical personnel of your wish to be a donor. This notification is too important to hide on the back of the license. If you do not have the heart sticker on the front of your license, please register again to ensure that you receive one.

It’s always a good idea to tell your family members what your wishes are with regard to organ donation, so they can honor them.

There are 10 million residents in our great state. If more of us will make the selfless and courageous choice to sign up as donors, we can significantly improve the odds that those in need of a transplant face.

Learn the facts about organ donation and join the registry today. For more information, visit www.Michigan.gov/sos or any Secretary of State branch office, or call 1.888.SOS.MICH.

Terri Lynn Land is Michigan’s 41st Secretary of State.