(Radio Iowa) – Iowans can now purchase a specialty license plate with a blank space that allows them to stick on a state-approved decal from any of several dozen non-profits. Tim Paluch, spokesman for LifeServe Blood Center, says his organization is offering the three-inch square decals for free after you purchase the new plate.
“I think the decal plate, through the DOT, has been around for a while, but what I think they’re doing is offering it up to more organizations and nonprofits,” Paluch says. “I think it’s a great program and I hope more people learn about it and they can kind of show off their pride in organizations like us, that they volunteer with, or donate to, and things like that.”
The D-O-T lists nearly 40 different decal options, from school booster clubs and veterans groups to the Boy Scouts and beekeeping. “Essentially, you trade in your regular license plate for what’s called a decal plate, which allows for a small decal sticker on the left side,” Paluch says, “and then there’s a way to reach out to all the participating organizations to get those stickers.”
LifeServe is a non-profit, community-based blood center that provides blood products to more than 175 hospitals primarily in Iowa, South Dakota, Nebraska and Illinois. “If you’re proud to be a blood donor, and I think everyone who donates to LifeServe Blood Center should be, it’s just kind of another way to show that off, to promote the organization,” Paluch says.
“This is just an opportunity to say, ‘I’m a LifeServe blood donor. My blood stays local to the community.’ It’s just kind of our logo with the big all-caps ‘BLOOD DONOR’ beneath it.” The new decal plates have space for just five characters to the right of the sticker.
The D-O-T says if the plate is requested at the time of the initial application for registration and certificate of title for the vehicle, there is no cost, though there’s a $5 replacement fee to switch from any plate type to a numbered decal plate.
