Morris Ford Receives Dealer of the Year Award for Promoting Organ Donor Registration.
Charlie Morris receives the Dealer of the Year Award from Aisha Taylor Executive Director of Donate Life NYS. (Aidan Cahill)
A Burnt Hills Ford dealership has received an award from Donate Life New York State and New York State Automobile Dealers Association for promoting organ donation.
Morris Ford, located on Route 50 in Burnt Hills, received the “Dealer of the Year” award from the two organizations in a ceremony on Sept. 10. Morris Ford President Charles “Charlie” Morris accepted the award on behalf of the dealership.
The Dealer of the Year award is given by Donate Life NYS for actions taken by dealerships during April, Donate Life Month, to support the mission of donate life. Dealerships were scored on “donor registration drives, fundraising efforts, and community engagement,” with the top dealer receiving honors from Donate life.
This is the second year Donate Life NYS has run the contest. Aisha Tator, Executive Director of Donate Life NYS said that 27 dealers participated in the contest and that she hopes to have 50 for next year’s contest. Tator said the purpose of the contest was to raise awareness for organ donation and getting people registered as organ donors.
“The more they’re seeing it, the more it increases the likelihood that when they’re presented with the question, they’ll check that box,” Tator said.
Currently, there are over 8,000 people on the transplant list in New York waiting on organs with 770 having waited for over five years. Saratoga Country has a high percentage of its drivers registered as organ donors with 153,707 registered organ donors — accounting for 78.9% of the population. The highest percentage of organ donors by county is Jefferson County with 89% of its population registered as organ donors. The lowest is Bronx County with 32.5% organ donor registration.
Charlie Morris, President of Morris Ford, said that he got involved in the program after his general manager suggested doing something in the community. Morris, who had heard about Donate Life NYS from another Ford dealership said he and the dealership fully embraced the program.
As part of their campaign, the Morris Ford Team promoted Donate Life by working with local businesses to spread awareness, wore t-shirts on Fridays and gave information to customers about the mission of Donate Life.
Those looking to enroll as an organ donor can do so at https://donatelife.ny.gov/register/