Williamson County, Texas

WHEREAS, air quality can threaten our environment, economy, and the health of the residents of Williamson County; and  

WHEREAS, air pollution levels in Central Texas were considered “moderate” or worse as a result of elevated ozone (O3) or fine particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution on thirty-four percent of days in 2020, according to the National Air Quality Index; and

WHEREAS, children, older adults, people with lung disease and people with heart disease are particularly affected by poor air quality, and make up about two out of every five residents in the CAPCOG region; and

WHEREAS, ground-level O3 levels in the Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) remain close to exceeding the O3 National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) and the regions PM2.5 levels are within the range EPA recently considered for the PM2.5 NAAQS; and

WHEREAS, ground-level ozone is an odorless, colorless gas that can lead to respiratory problems and is driven locally by combustion sources such as cars, trucks, construction equipment, and power plants; and

WHEREAS, particulate matter, which is different from ozone, is defined as the sum of all solid and liquid particles suspended in air, which include both organic and inorganic particles, such as dust, pollen, soot, smoke, and liquid droplets, which can vary in size and come from sources such as road and construction dust, prescribed fires, commercial cooking, and mining and quarrying; and

Girl Scouts from the Red Poppy Service Unit in Georgetown delivered 125 cases of girl scout cookies to Wilco First Responders, including the Sheriff's office, on Monday, April 19 at the Emergency Services Operations Center (ESOC) in Georgetown.

The girl scouts making this generous donation are from troops 2660, 45008, 45010, and 45012.

Imagine if you could give the gift of restored sight to a young mother, human tissue to repair a first responder’s injured limb or an organ to save a teenager’s life.

National Donate Life Month, observed each April, encourages us to register as organ, eye and tissue donors to make these types of gifts possible.

One registered donor alone might save eight or nine lives and enhance that of 100 or more people. Think about it!

Registering is free to both the donor and donor’s family. All costs associated with the donation are charged to the recovery agency, but funeral expenses remain the responsibility of the family.

Signing the Texas Donate Life at https://www.donatelifetexas.org/ registry is a legally binding, first-person authorization by which you become a donor upon death.

That’s it. You sign up and go about your life!

The Donate Life Texas registry is the only official organ, eye and tissue donor registry of this state.

Based on 2018 population estimates, 78.6 percent of Williamson County residents are registered donors! That’s a whopper to be proud of.

PROCLAMATION

WHEREAS, National Donate Life Month (NDLM) is observed each April; and

 WHEREAS, while NDLM is a time to bring attention to organ donations, it also highlights the life-changing events with eye and tissue donations. It is time to spotlight not only those donors who give the gift of organs and tissue, but also to those recipients of such life-saving gifts; and

WHEREAS, The Donate Life Registry (www.donatelifetexas.org) is the only organ, eye, and tissue registry in the State of Texas, where just one person, who registers their intent to donate their organs, eyes, and tissue, might save up to 8 lives with organs and/or enhance far more lives of people with eyes & tissue; and

WHEREAS, as of March 30, 2021 on the Donate Life Registry, nationally, there are over 13M registered donors and almost 108,000 on the transplant list, of which over 10,000 are Texans; and

WHEREAS, using 2018 U.S. Census data, an astonishing 79% of Williamson County residents are registered donors; and