At 9:00 am Saturday morning, volunteers from the Alexa’s Hope foundation set up booths at the Fargodome, the Fargo Air Museum, and The Coliseum in preparation for their attempt to set the world record.
“We have a Guinness world record attempt, and it is to get the most people to sign up as organ donors in eight hours,” Project manager Jenny Adams said, “The Guinness world record right now is set in India, and it is 4135 people, and so we are shooting for 4136.”
Alexa’s Hope contacted the Guinness book of world records in order to make their attempt official. Guinness sent out Judicator Phillip Robertson to monitor the attempt, and ensure that all the rules were followed properly.
“The nice part about record attempts is they are all different, even if their in the same category,” Robertson said, “This attempt in itself is going to be a success whether the record is beaten or not. The nice part about this is that all people signing up as organ donors are going to contribute positively to someone else’s life, and to me that means a lot more than some of the records that could be considered more trivial, so to me that is fantastic.”
Alexa’s Hope was founded in memory of Alexa Kersting, who died while waiting for a pediatric lung transplant, with the goal of spreading awareness of the need for organ donors.
“You don’t need to hear Alexa’s story many times before you’re really moved by it,” Volunteer Kirsten Jensen said, “I think organ donation is the last gift you can give to the world, and it is an amazing gift when I think of the friends and family that I know that have been saved by organ donation.”
Alexa’s Hope fell shy of the record today, registering 489 donors. However, they are still encouraged by the community response, and urge everyone to become a registered organ donor.
“We feel that it is so important for people to donate organs, because what else are you going to do when you die,” Adams said. “ Let’s save a life, you know, save another person’s life.”