Mary Ray of Albany has a message for everyone about organ donation: Having the "D" on your driver's license isn't good enough anymore.

Instead, everyone is advised to register online through Donate Life Northwest, formerly called the Oregon Donor Program.

"People used to think, all they had to do was put a 'D' on their license and that made them a donor," said Ray, a kidney recipient herself. "What the 'D' says, is you have an intent to donate but you're not a donor."

That's especially true if the person's family didn't know about his or her wish to donate organs, Ray said.

Ray is a volunteer for Donate Life Northwest. The program changed its name from the Oregon Donor Program to reflect outreach efforts in southwest Washington and an alliance with Donate Life America.

Because Oregon joined the National Donor Registry at the beginning of April, Ray said anyone who wants to be a donor should register online with Donate Life Northwest, donatelifenw.org. A registration form is on the site, with a list of organs and tissues people can choose to donate.

According to Donate Life Northwest statistics, 1,128 Oregonians donated their eyes in 2006, resulting in 1,158 cornea transplants. Some 656 others donated tissues, which resulted in 19,000 tissue transplants. Another 103 people donated organs, which resulted in 346 transplants.

Donate Life America's goal is to get 100 million donors registered nationwide. Its literature says nearly 100,000 people are waiting for an organ, and about 75 percent of them are waiting for a kidney.

Ray received her kidney in 2003 after being on dialysis for three and a half years with glomero nephritis, a disease that causes kidney failure. She was 69 when she received her new kidney; the donor was a 55-year-old woman who died of a stroke.

Ray, who is now retired from a long career as a medical office manager, urges everyone to consider becoming an organ donor. She said people who need organs could live productive lives again once they receive the organ they need.

"If they could get an organ, they could get back to normal life and function as I do," she said. "I'm living proof what an organ donation can do."

She has spoken at 13 places this month about Donate Life Northwest, including mid-valley high schools.

Ian Rollins can be reached at ian.rollins@lee.net or 812-6077.