About Gift of Hope

Our history

Gift of Hope Organ & Tissue Donor Network was incorporated as a federally designated, non-profit organ procurement organization on July 7, 1986, under the National Organ Transplant Act of 1984, to coordinate the recovery and transplantation of donated organs and tissues in the northern three-quarters of Illinois and northwest Indiana. Then called the Regional Organ Bank of Illinois, we began operations on June 1, 1987, under the leadership of our founding CEO Jarold (Jerry) Anderson.

Among the many milestones of our work since that time:

• In 1988, we established our African-American Task Force that attracted hundreds of volunteers to educate the Black community about donation and increase the number of black organ donors, particularly kidney donors.
• In 1990, we began operations to allow donors to donate tissue, providing these healing gifts for patients in need.
• In 1992, we worked closely with then Illinois Secretary of State George Ryan as his office launched the nation’s first statewide organ/tissue donor registry.
• In 1995, we established our Hispanic Task Force to lead donation education and support in our Hispanic and Latino communities.
• In 2001, we became the first OPO to establish an in-house transportation team to provide emergency and non-emergency ground transport of procurement teams, organs, biopsy and blood samples, procurement supplies and other donation-related needs. We also pioneered one of the nation’s first OPO-based kidney perfusion laboratories to increase the number of donated kidneys for successful transplantation. 
• In 2002, in conjunction with our 15th anniversary, we changed our name to Gift of Hope Organ & Tissue Donor Network. Our identity as Gift of Hope Organ & Tissue Donor Network was selected to clearly communicate our work and inspire all those we serve—encouraging individuals and families to provide the precious gift that gives hope to the many thousands of people waiting for life-giving organ or tissue transplants. The brushstroke above our name represents the life that connects a donor’s gift to the hope it provides recipients.
• In 2004, we launched an award-winning high school education program “Share Your Life, Share Your Decision” educating tens of thousands of students each year about organ and tissue donation; the award-winning program was adopted across the country and in several European countries. We also established a dedicated Donor Family Services department for the post-donation support of donor families. A record number of more than 700 donor family members attended our annual “Day of Hope and Remembrance” at Peoria’s Wildlife Prairie State Park to honor their loved ones.
• In 2005, we worked closely with then Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White and legislators to change state law and begin honoring the decisions of Illinoisans who join the Illinois Organ/Tissue Donor Registry. Public opinion and families overwhelmingly supported the change, concerned that an individual’s documented choice to donate as a registered donor could be overturned at the time of their death. The new law went into effect Jan. 1, 2006.
• In 2006, we helped more than 2,000 individuals register as organ, eye and tissue donors at a one-day celebration of life at a Chicago church serving one of the nation’s largest Black congregations.
• In 2007, we launched a new campaign with the Illinois Secretary of State and our Donate Life Illinois partners that encouraged 3.5 million Illinois residents to register in the state’s new donor registry by April 2008.
• In 2012, we set a Guinness World Record for Most Organ Donor Registrations in a Single Day—2,262—at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
• In 2013, we recovered 1,019 donor organs for transplantation, surpassing more than 1,000 life-saving organs donated in a year for the first time. 
• In 2016, Gift of Hope’s Histocompatibility Laboratory expanded its in-house infectious disease testing to include NAT – nucleic acid testing – and becomes a regional testing site for multiple OPOs and transplant centers.
• In July 2022, we became only the nation’s third donation service area to provide more than 30,000 life-saving organs for transplant.
• In 2024, in partnership with Rush University Medical Center, we established the Gift of Hope Organ Donor Care Center at Rush as Illinois’ first medical and surgical unit dedicated to managing the recovery of life-saving organs from deceased organ donors. We also opened our new office in Chicago’s Chatham community, named for retired Gift of Hope advisor Jackie D. Lynch.