MAYOR GIULIANI HOSTS RECEPTION AT GRACIE MANSION FOR MICKEY MANTLE DONOR AWARENESS FOUNDATION
Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani tonight hosted a reception at Gracie Mansion in honor of the Mickey Mantle Donor Awareness Foundation -- an organization founded in 1995 by the late Baseball Hall of Famer to promote organ and tissue donations. More than 40,000 Americans nationwide are currently awaiting transplants.
The Mayor was joined by Foundation Executive and son of the Hall of Famer, David Mantle; Street & Smith Publisher Sal Schiliro; transplant surgeon Dr. Dale Anthony Distant; New York Yankee legend Yogi Berra; former New York Met All Star Keith Hernandez; New York Giant great Lawrence Taylor; and former New York Giant head coach Allie Sherman.
"Mickey Mantle is a hero to virtually every New Yorker who has lived in the past half-century," Mayor Giuliani said. "This year's Yankee team may be chasing a record, but the early Yankee teams of the 1950s and early 1960s gave definition to the term 'sports dynasty.' In his days as a Yankee, 'The Mick' was magic and he left us with many treasured memories. But the most important legacy he left us was his tireless advocacy on behalf of organ and tissue donation.
"The facts are that today more than 40,000 Americans are awaiting organ donations. Tragically, one third to one half of these people will die before an organ is available," continued the Mayor. "This doesn't have to happen. Raising public awareness about the importance of organ donation can only lead to more lives saved. And the Mickey Mantle Donor Awareness Foundation is leading the way," concluded the Mayor.
Mickey Mantle began his baseball career in 1951 with the New York Yankees and remained with the team until he retired in 1968. During the course of his famed 18-year career, "The Mick" played in 14 World Series and was named the American League's Most Valuable Player three times (1956, 1957 and 1962). He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974.
Mickey Mantle developed a serious liver problem and received a transplant on June 8th, 1995 at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. He died only two-and-a-half months later, due to complications created by cancer. His last wish, however, was that his family establish a foundation to promote organ and tissue transplants and donor awareness. The Foundation is supported by Mickey Mantle's family.
"We want to continue to inform people about the importance of organ donation because it saves lives," said Street & Smith Publisher Sal Schiliro. "I'm proud to say I'm a registered organ donor and I encourage others to register also."
In 1995, the Foundation began a year-long campaign to increase public knowledge about the importance of organ donations by reaching out to community organizations, to houses of worship, to young people in colleges and high schools and to sports fans at sporting events throughout the New York City region.
The Mickey Mantle Donor Awareness Foundation plans to work in concert with professionals in the donation and transplantation community toward the goal of completly eliminating the loss of life or the loss of quality of life due to the lack of organs and tissue available for transplantation. The awareness program will involve continuous public distribution of information relevant to organ and tissue donation, along with the distribution of millions of organ donor cards.
Sponsors for tonight's event included Street & Smith's Sports Group, Angel's Restaurant, the Brooklyn Brewery, Coca-Cola, the Egg Farm Dairy, Kobrick's Coffee, Maggie's Place, Mickey Mantle's Restaurant, The Mid-City Grill, the New York Restaurant School, the Old World Brewery, Patsy's Pizzeria, Revolution, Teton Glacier Potato Vodka and the TriBakery.
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