Last year over 6,500 people died awaiting organ transplants - eighteen people every day. This and other troubling statistics prompted SPACEHAB, Inc. to work in partnership with the Gift of Life Foundation on October 29 to communicate a 'life and death' message to its work force. To help get the message out that declaring one's wishes to be an organ donor is easy, as well as to educate employees about the common misconceptions associated with organ and tissue donation, the commercial aerospace company distributed the Foundation's donor awareness materials and donor cards to a tri-state employee base. The campaign's message also emphasized to potential donors that signing a donor card is not enough to ensure that their wishes for donation will be carried out. Donors must inform their loved ones of their important decision.

The life saving campaign fell in line with Secretary of Health and Human Services' Tommy G. Thompson's national "Workplace Partnership for Life" initiative enacted earlier this year to encourage and enable American's to 'Donate the Gift of Life'. Today, there are over 85,000 men, women, young adults, and children on the list for a transplant - and the need for organs has continued to grow faster than the supply.

"We felt that SPACEHAB could play a small part in this important nationwide effort simply by making information on donation available to our employees," said Jerry Gammill, SPACEHAB Quality, Safety, and Health representative. "Although the success of the campaign in terms of statistical data is impossible to gauge given that organ donation is ultimately a very personal and private decision - in the end, we consider the initiative a success if even one employee learned something new and perhaps signed their name on the organ donor card that was provided."

SPACEHAB, Incorporated ( www.spacehab.com ) is a leading provider of commercial and government space services with three primary business units. The Flight Services business unit develops, owns, and operates habitat and laboratory modules and cargo carriers aboard NASA's Space Shuttles for Space Station resupply and research purposes. SPACEHAB's Astrotech subsidiary provides payload processing support services for both commercial and government customers at company-owned facilities in Florida and California. The Company's Government Services business unit supports NASA's Johnson Space Center providing configuration management, product engineering, and support services for both the Space Station and Space Shuttle programs. Additionally, through The Space Store, Space Media provides space merchandise to the public and space enthusiasts worldwide ( www.thespacestore.com ).

About Gift of Life Foundation