The Iowa Donor Network is working to save lives in a new way. The Network is kicking off a campaign to bring Iowa’s organ donation waitlist to zero.

The “Campaign to Zero” initiative aims to recruit enough organ donors statewide to bring the adult waiting list down to zero. The Iowa Donor Network will partner with Iowa State and the other two state schools and help spread the word about the program.

“There are about 600 people on the waitlist for life-saving organ transplants in Iowa. That includes children. We really feel this is a solvable problem,” said Tony Hakes of the Iowa Donor Network. “We’re attempting to make the waitlist in Iowa very short, make parts like heart and lungs, if not the entire waitlist go down to zero.”

In 20 years of existence, the Iowa Donor Network has been working to make Iowa the first state where no one has to wait for a transplant. Along with an aggressive social media campaign, which will roll out in the coming weeks as well as advertisements on TV and radio stations, the network plans to make its goal a reality.

ISU athletic fans will also see the campaign in action at upcoming events and during ISU athletics on television.

“We’ve used our coaches — Coach Hoiberg, Coach Rhoads, Coach Fennelly — our athletics director Jamie Pollard, and [ABC5 sports director] John Walters in a commercial we put together,” said Frank Nogel, the senior associate director for the athletics department. “It runs on commercials during our coaches’ show, video boards during events. PA announcements are certainly important to support that.”

Fans will also be able to talk to someone from the Iowa Donor Network face-to-face at an upcoming football game if they have questions about signing up.

The Iowa Donor Network hopes to accomplish this thanks to the largest donation in company history from the Gerdin Family Foundation.

“[The campaign] is very expensive and comes at great cost. The Iowa Donor Network is a nonprofit organization, so our funding is limited,” Hakes said. “We would not be able to do this campaign without financial support.”

The Gerdin foundation was founded by Russ Gerdin, who also founded Heartland Express trucking. He received a liver transplant in 2006. After his death in 2011, the Gerdin family continues to be very active, including this donation to help out the Iowa Donor Network.

Even though Iowa ranks sixth or seventh — depending on the month — in terms of the number of organ donors, Hakes said it is important for students to choose to donate.

“We encourage everyone to take a look at their driver’s license and make sure they have a ‘Y’ next to ‘Donor.” If that’s the case, then they’re done — they don’t have to do anything,” Hakes said. “If someone doesn’t have a “Y” on their license, they can log onto IowaDonorNetwork.org and click “Sign up to become a Donor.”

Students who attend Iowa State but are not from Iowa can also log on to the network’s website and sign up to become a donor in Iowa.

Hakes also encouraged parents to talk to their children about becoming donors. Parents can even sign their children up through the website. Anyone who doesn’t have a driver’s license, but still wishes to be a donor, can also sign-up.

For anybody concerned about not being fit to donate, Hakes said everyone should sign up anyway.

“That’s probably the biggest reason people don’t register. They don’t think they can,” Hakes said. “They think they are too old or they have a bad medical history. That’s actually not the case. We encourage everyone register and let our screening process determine if we can move forward or not.”

Hakes stressed that along with the campaigns on social media and at football games, the most important part is getting everyone to sign up.

More info is available on the Iowa Donor Network’s website at www.iowadonornetwork.org.

“The most important thing that anyone can do is register as a donor,” Hakes said. “Make sure your family knows your wishes. Make sure you understand their wishes and if that’s the case, we’ll take Iowa to number one and no one will wait for a transplant.”