National Donor Memorial
Celebrating 20 years of the Memorial Watch video
Visiting the Memorial
We invite you to visit The National Donor Memorial in person or virtually. Designed to reflect the emotional journey of donation and transplant, the Memorial is open every day of the year.
New Hamilton Glass mural
Wall of names
“When I visit the Memorial and read all the names, I know that I am not alone on this journey.”
—Donnetta Quarles-Reese, donor mother and donor wife
More than 100 invited guests were in attendance on Nov. 16, 2023 to mark the 20th anniversary of the National Donor Memorial at UNOS headquarters in Richmond, VA. Watch the highlights here or read more about event
Honoring donors
Created to honor all organ, eye and tissue donors, the Memorial holds in one space the loss and hope, gratitude and sorrow, memory and possibility of donation and transplant. Since the Memorial was first dedicated in 2003, thousands of visitors have come to remember loved ones, to give thanks for the gift of life and new beginnings, and to walk among the hundreds of names carved into the Memorial’s walls.
Scroll down the page to find additional ways to honor donors.
Donor tributes
Honor an organ donor by sharing an online tribute of their life’s special moments, accomplishments, and precious memories with family and friends. View tributes or share a donor tribute story through the links below.
Connecting donor families and recipients
Sometimes donor families and recipients choose to contact one another. While the decision to share your experience is a personal choice, many donor families and recipients find comfort in correspondence. How to reach out.
Help us revitalize the Memorial
20 years after its inauguration, the National Donor Memorial has sustained damage from general aging, detrimental weathering, and structurally invasive landscape elements.
Please help us reach our fundraising goal of $150,000 by making a tax-deductible gift to the fund today.
With your support, you are helping to ensure the National Donor Memorial remains a safe, publicly accessible, and peaceful sanctuary for donor families and friends, grateful patients, and public visitors to honor America’s selfless donor heroes.
The Lisa Schaffner Community Advocate Award
Developed by UNOS in 2010 as the National Donor Memorial Award for Excellence, this honor was recently reimagined as the Lisa Schaffner Community Advocate Award, in honor of the memory of Lisa Schaffner, a beloved advocate for donation and transplant and longtime member of Team UNOS who passed away in 2021.
The Lisa Schaffner Community Advocate Awards recognizes unsung heroes from across the country who have gone above and beyond to promote organ donation. Like its namesake, recipients are tireless champions who help change lives and inspire others through their advocacy.
Awardees
National Tree of Life
The National Tree of Life virtual event is an opportunity to gather together to recognize the gift of organ, eye and tissue donation, to pay tribute to donors and their families, and to celebrate the lives of recipients across the country. We also hope this event may be a moment of solace for friends and families who are grieving, and for all who may experience a greater sense of loss during the holidays.
The 2024 National Tree of Life ceremony will be held on December 16, 2024 at 6:30 p.m. EST.
Watch the 2023 recorded event
United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) and Donate Life America (DLA) hosted the National Tree of Life virtual event on Dec. 19, 2023 at 6:30 p.m. EST.