Green ducks appearing across western Pennsylvania to promote organ donation

August 1 is PA Donor Day, a day to bring awareness to organ donation and the countless lives it can save. 

The date itself carries a powerful message; it serves as a reminder that one organ donor could save up to eight lives.

On this PA Donor Day, you may also want to keep an eye out for tiny green ducks.

Thousands of small green ducks will begin appearing in parks, coffee shops, local businesses, hospitals and community gathering places across western Pennsylvania as part of the Center for Organ Recovery and Education's first-ever "Ducking for Donor Day" campaign.

"Donor Day is an opportunity for our entire community to come together around one simple but life-changing message: one decision can save up to eight lives," said Colleen Sullivan, director of public affairs and donor family services at CORE. "Our hope is that every duck someone finds starts a conversation, inspires someone to register as a donor and reminds us that small acts of kindness can have an extraordinary impact."

The campaign shines a light on the urgent need for more registered donors. Currently, more than 6,000 Pennsylvanians and more than 500 West Virginians are waiting for a life-saving transplant.

Inspired by the growing trend of "ducking," in which people secretly leave small rubber ducks for others to discover as a random act of kindness, CORE is giving the tradition a life-saving purpose. 

Each duck will have a tag with a QR code encouraging the person who finds it to learn more about organ, tissue and cornea donation.

Anyone who discovers a duck is encouraged to keep it as a reminder of the gift of life or pass it along to brighten someone else's day. They're also encouraged to scan the QR code on it to learn about organ donation and then share a photo on social media using the hashtag #DonorDay and tag @COREDonateLife.

If you don't find a duck, you can also visit CORE's website, including CORE.org/Register, to register as an organ donor. 

The hope is that one conversation today could help save lives tomorrow.

KDKA-TV photojournalist Bryan Orr also contributed to this story.