Springfield Pizzeria To Promote Organ Donation

SPRINGFIELD, NJ — Throughout April, Saporito's of Springfield will be distributing custom designed pizza boxes and coffee sleeves displaying the number of people in the local area currently waiting for a life-saving transplant.

This is part of NJ Sharing Network’s campaign for Donate Life Month, to help spread the word about organ and tissue donation and transplantation.

“This campaign is a way to definitely get the conversation going about organ donation,” said Elizabeth Stamler of Scotch Plains. “The idea with the pizza box is you never eat pizza alone, you usually share with family or friends. And on the pizza boxes will have the number of people waiting in the area for a transplant.”

Stamler is a donor and recipient family member. Her dad, brother, and aunt have all been heart transplant recipients and her other brother, Stephen, who died in 2009 was a tissue donor to 29 people.

The Saporito's is among more than 135 pizzerias, coffee shops, diners, delis and bagel shops in the state to have teamed up with NJ Sharing Network, the non-profit organ procurement organization that is responsible for the recovery of organs and tissue for the nearly 4,000 New Jersey residents currently awaiting transplantation.

“What we want people to know is that organ and tissue donation can affect anyone – it might be your neighbor, the person you wave to every morning on your way to work, or the barista who serves you a cup of coffee daily,” said Joe Roth, President and CEO of NJ Sharing Network. “In 2017, more New Jersey residents gave the gift of life than ever before, resulting in over 550 lives saved. Our state is home to some of the best pizzerias and coffee shops in the country and picking up a pizza or cup of coffee this April might mean we are one step closer to saving even more lives.”

Union County eateries participating include:

• Bacci's Brick Oven, New Providence
• Bellariva Pizzeria, New Providence
• Bellariva Pizzeria, Summit
• Coppola Ristorante & Pizzeria, New Providence
• Doria's Pizzeria, Summit
• Ground Connection, Hillside
• Italian Village, Plainfield
• Johnny Napkins, Union
• Marcello's, Berkeley Heights
• Noah's Bagels, Chatham and New Providence
• NYC Bagels, Union
• Prestige Diner, New Providence
• Saporito's, Springfield

To view a full list of participating restaurants, visit njsharingnetwork.org/savenjlives_participants.

(Image via NJ Sharing Network)

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