Donate Life Pennsylvania is trying to launch the next big social media campaign with their #uglytruth campaign.

In a similar style to the “Ice Bucket Challenge” Donate Life Pennsylvania is hoping to achieve virality online. The group is asking Pennsylvania residents to post ugly photos of themselves to Facebook and Twitter with the hope of raising awareness about organ donation with the photos, as well as asking residents to register to be a donor at donatelifepa.org. 

State celebrities Miss Pennsylvania USA 2016 Elena LaQuatra and Pennsylvania Auditor Gerneal Eugene DePasquale have already posted their ugly photos online.

Dwendy Johnson, who works at the Gift of Life program’s community outreach program, said that it is important to raise awareness about the issue. 

Nationally, an average of 22 people die every day waiting for a transplant and every ten minutes someone is added to the waiting list, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

However, Johnson hopes that this campaign will help turn those numbers around because of social media’s prominence in people’s lives.

She said that before social media, they could only really reach out to small communities or people already affected by the issue. But now, “social media provides a unique opportunity for people to rally behind this issue.” 

The most memorable social media non-profit campaign was the 2014 “Ice Bucket Challenge”, which raised over $220 million dollars for ALS research, according to The Washington Post.

Another viral campaign from a non-profit is the hijacking of #FirstWorldProblems by Water is Life, whose video has over 7 million views and provided “over a million days worth of clean water to those in need as a result”, according to nonprofithub.org.

The mother of one of the 30,969 transplant recipients last year is hopeful that the #uglytruth campaign will reach a similar level of success.

Amy Mahon, of Lewisburg, Pennsyvlania said that while the campaign hasn’t “spread like wildfire like the Ice Bucket Challenge” they are just “getting started.” 

Mahon’s nine-year-old daughter Katy received a new kidney last July from a cadaver donor.

“This young man saved her,” Amy said. The donor’s other kidney, lungs, heart and liver were also donated to people in need.

Because of her daughter’s experience, she became more involved with Donate Life Pennsylvania and the Ugly Truth campaign.

Amy said the Ugly Truth campaign is important because it can make people realize that it can happen to them and they can save lives beyond death.

“One person can save eight lives,” she said.

She said it takes “less than a minute to get registered. It is easy. It’s simple. It saves lives.”

Ginader is reporter at The (Sunbury) Daily Item.