FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MD MVA AWARDED FOR OUTSTANDING COMMUNITY SERVICE
The Village of Friendship Heights and Donate Life Maryland Recognize MVA for Integrity, Donor Donation Promotion  

(GLEN BURNIE, MD) July 27, 2012 - The Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA) has recently received several awards recognizing the agency for outstanding community service from the Village of Friendship Heights and Donate Life Maryland.  The Elizabeth Scull Outstanding Community Service Award was presented this month during the annual Friendship Heights Village Center celebration on the 4th of July and the recognition for the MVA’s efforts to promote organ donation was made at the regional conference of the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators on July 18th.

“MVA is very pleased to receive these awards; we will continue our never-ending quest to make our services accessible and to work with the communities we serve,” said John Kuo, MVA Administrator.

The Friendship Heights Village Council presented the Elizabeth Scull award to the MVA for its tremendous service to the Village of Friendship Heights.  The MVA Mobile Office, has been serving the community since 1999, was recognized for convenient and efficient service to the community.
 
Melanie Rose White, Mayor of the Friendship Heights Village Council, said, “Not only is [the MVA bus] wonderfully convenient, but the MVA staff are well-known for their courtesy and efficiency.”

The Maryland MVA’s Donate Life Maryland ‘Likes’ Heroes campaign won the Most Innovative Campaign and the MVA had a donor designation rate of 47 percent, worthy of a silver medal from Donate Life Maryland. The Donate Life Maryland awards were regional, covering all the states from New England to the Mid-Atlantic and Washington, D.C.  They were presented to the Maryland MVA during an awards ceremony at the Region 1 American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators Conference in Mashantucket, Connecticut. 

The MVA’s donor campaign engaged Maryland residents in the promotion of donor designations during Donate Life month in April.   The employees at MVA’s branch offices wore bright green to encourage MVA customers who applied for or renewed their driver’s licenses or identification cards to designate themselves as donors.  The promotion took place during April, 2011 and the Donate for Life organization recognized the MVA employees as heroes on the front lines of donor designation.   Maryland’s 47 percent donor designation represented an almost a 4 percent increase from the previous year. 

Since 1998, individuals who answered “yes” to the organ donor question during the MVA driver’s license or identification card transaction have received a red heart on their driver’s license designating them as organ donors.  Ninety-six percent of all designated donors are registered via the MVA.

In April, 2011, the MVA launched a month long initiative to increase the number of registered organ, eye and tissue donors at MVA headquarters in Glen Burnie. A social media campaign was designed to engage Maryland residents in the promotion of donor designations.  Visitors to any MVA branch office on a Friday that month saw a sea of green. MVA employees wore Donate Life Maryland t-shirts to promote the nationwide initiative of 20 million registrants by 2012.  Some MVA employees even donned bright green “super hero” capes to take pictures for facebook posting and to share with others.
 
Donate Life Maryland is a non-profit organization, dedicated to increasing donor designations throughout the State of Maryland.  The organization manages the official Maryland Donor Registry through a partnership with the MVA and with oversight provided by the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

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