Historic Placer County Courthouse lights up blue and green in support of organ donation

Published on April 4, 2022

The colonnade of Placer County’s historic courthouse in Auburn was lit blue and green April 1 to celebrate the gift of life-saving organ donation.

April is Donate Life Month - an observance to focus attention on the need for and importance of organ, eye and tissue donation. The lights will remain on for the entire month.

“Placer County is honored to recognize national Donate Life Month,” said Placer County Board of Supervisors Chair and District 5 Supervisor Cindy Gustafson. “We are grateful to those who’ve saved lives through the gift of donation and we encourage others to consider registering as a donor.”

According to the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration, there are over 106,000 men, women and children on the national transplant waiting list. There are approximately 1,500 local patients awaiting a transplant in the Sacramento region.

Auburn resident, dual-transplant recipient and organ donation advocate Valen Keefer knows firsthand the lifesaving and life-changing impact of organ donation. 

This August she will celebrate her 20-year kidney transplant and 4-year liver transplant anniversaries. 

“I could barely contain my excitement when seeing the beautiful courthouse lit in the Donate Life colors of blue and green for the first time. It is stunning,” said Keefer, patient advocacy consultant for the transplant diagnostics business at Thermo Fisher Scientific. “It means so much to have the support of my local community to help celebrate Donate Life Month.” 

Community members are invited to attend a lighting ceremony, which will be held outside of the courthouse April 22 from 7-8:30 p.m., for National Donate Life Blue & Green Day. Placer County will present Keefer with a proclamation announcing April as Donate Life Month in Placer County.

“Blue & Green Day is to honor our donor heroes for their selfless gifts and also to encourage others to consider saving lives by registering to be an organ, eye, and tissue donor,” said Sean Van Slyck, executive director at Sierra Donor Services.

Sierra Donor Services is the federally and state-recognized organ procurement organization serving Placer County, working to facilitate organ, eye, and tissue donation throughout the region.

Learn more about the historic courthouse at https://www.placer.ca.gov/Facilities/Facility/Details/Placer-County-Museum-84.