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"Driving For Life; A 48 State Journey To Save 100 Children"
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Kidneys For Kids 48 State Challenge to Save The Lives Of 100 Kids
Kidneys For Kids “100 KIDNEYS FOR 100 KIDS” 48 State Challenge
Kidneys For Kids is a 5013c Non-Profit -EIN 88-2341457
Story: In 2012, I read a newspaper story about a
10-year-old girl from our town who needed a kidney transplant. I did
not know her, but almost two years prior, I had tried to help a friend
who also needed a kidney transplant by offering to become his paired
kidney donor (If you do not match a person directly in blood and
tissue type, you can donate to someone you may never meet, and push
your friend or loved on to the top of the kidney transplant list, so
they will receive their need kidney)
I was taken back by this girl's mother, who had put aside pride or
caring what anyone thought of her; she had made a sign from a pink
piece of construction paper and wrote-“MY DAUGHTER NEEDS A KIDNEY, I
CANNOT LOSE HER. PLEASE HELP” https://www.mlive.com/news/bay-city/2012/09/bay_city_girl_jessica_schwerin.html
Two days later, I called the mother's phone number from the story and
found I was her daughter's blood type. I then contacted The University
of Michigan Transplant Center to be tested for Jessica- the young girl
who would change my life. Within two weeks, I was notified that I was
a one-in-100,000 match for Jessica, and after talking with family
members and close friends, I committed to being her donor. Jessica and
her mother were notified the day before Thanksgiving, -2012 that
Jessica had a donor. They were elated, and after being introduced in
December, we rode together to our transplant surgeries in a donated
limousine and on January 11, 2013; Jessica received my left kidney. https://www.mlive.com/news/bay-city/2013/01/10_year-old_jessica_schwerin_a.html
Both surgeries were a complete success, and Jessica began a
new-healthy life. And we started a bond that would grow for almost ten
years now. And I have been a Peer Mentor to Kidney Donors at the
University Of Michigan Transplant Center since 2016. Jessica is now
20, healthy, in college, and on the board of directors for my
non-profit, Kidneys For Kids. Seeing what my kidney did for her is why
I must complete a trip for other children, which I started this year
and will continue in May 2023. This 48-state-50-city journey aims to
inspire 100 adults to come forward and become kidney donors for 100
kids. Below, you will read the following reasons I need your support
today: to complete this ambitious mission and see others become kidney
donors to save more kids’ lives.
Fundraising Goal: $22,500
Time Limit- January 8th,2023
Reasons To Support This Life-Saving Journey:
Jessica's Personal Story:
Early in 2012, my mother and I found out I was in end-stage renal
failure after I started having severe backaches. After going through
many tests with our family doctor, my mother and I were informed that
I would need a kidney transplant, or I would have to start dialysis
soon. I was 10 years old at the time, and I became very scared knowing
soon I would have to have a port for dialysis surgically placed in my
arm or chest, so I could receive dialysis treatment 3 times per week.
At that time, there were no pediatric centers for dialysis near our
city, so my mom would have to drive me almost 100 miles for treatment
three times per week. I was already starting to miss a lot of school
days feeling sick, which gave me too much time to think about what I
would be going through soon, if I was not approved to enter a
transplant program, I would be on dialysis, and miss to many days of
school to move past 4th grade. It is a lot for a 10-year-old mind to
handle, but I am lucky to have such a caring mother, family members,
and good friends who all kept my spirits up
Little did I know my mother was desperate to find me a living
kidney donor, as she could not bear the thought of losing me. She knew
if I received a kidney from a living person, I had a better chance of
not rejecting it and that a living kidney has an average life span of
almost three times of a kidney from a deceased person. So, in
September 2012, my mom decided one day to make a sign on a big pink
piece of construction paper, and she went to the busiest corner in our
town. She stood there for hours, the sign saying-Help Please, “My
Daughter Needs A Kidney, She’s 10 Years Old, I Cannot Lose Her”. She
received many offers, but no amount of money could buy a kidney; it
must be given freely. Her effort gained the attention of our local
newspaper and Tv station. We had no idea that a man who had called us
about two days after the stories appeared would get tested to see if
he was a match for me. It was not until the day before Thanksgiving
that we were notified that my mother’s effort had found my hero. Mom
and I screamed so loud that Brian should have heard us, as, at the
time, we only lived four blocks apart but had never met. Brian, my
mom, and I were introduced in December by a former CNN reporter who
wanted to record a short documentary on kidney donation. Then on
January 10th, 2013, Brian, mom, and I rode together in a donated
limousine to the University of Michigan Transplant Center, and the
next day Brian’s kidney was removed in the main hospital and brought
over to C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, where my surgical team placed
his kidney into my stomach pouch- that’s where donated kidneys go. The
kidney, which was now mine, immediately started to function, and two
days later, Brian was wheeled over to see me, and we were reunited. I
was now full of color, I could eat all of the foods that had been
restricted from my diet, and I could go home within 6 days. Brian and
I both made full recoveries, and because of his donation which in the
end saved my life, I am now 20 years old, healthy, in college at
Eastern Michigan University, and serving on the board of directors for
Kidneys For Kids, the non-profit Brian started this year. #kidneysforkids
Brians Life Saving Mission
• In March of this year, after advocating for an adult friend who
needed her 2nd kidney transplant in a Tv story- and seeing her receive
a great response, I founded Kidneys For Kids, a Michigan non-profit,
and geared its mission to focus on children since I had donated to a
child. I want to see the over 1100 kids on the kidney transplant list
and the over 9300 others in renal failure who will possibly need a
kidney, have a better chance of finding a kidney donor. And I want our
non-profit mission to help families of children with kidney failure or
receiving a transplant, with costs of prescriptions and treatments not
covered by insurance or other resources. I then decided I needed to
take action and set an example to lead others to help these children
who need the gift of life. So, I put together a plan for a marathon 48
state-50 city trip (in an electric vehicle, no less to advocate
responsibly), planning to visit transplant hospitals, and kidney
foundations, and just talk with anyone who would listen and schedule
Tv and newspaper interviews-where I would present facts about becoming
a living kidney donor to a child, and how a person could save a
child’s life while continuing to live a normal life themselves.
#lifesaving #donatelife
• Well, even the best of intentions can become an enormous task to
actually complete, as I found out. After many delays, cancellations,
and sponsorship promises to help me complete this trip, I set off on
my own in September- with a Chevrolet dealer lending me a Chevrolet
Bolt EV. I travelled first to Chicago, Illinois, and Jackson,
Mississippi- where I advocated for children through 2 kidney
foundations in Tv interviews. It was after that I was contacted by
parents of kidney kids, asking me if I would come to their town and
advocate for their child. So, in October, I made a track to Virginia,
where I was honored to be in 2 Tv and one newspaper interview for two
boys- one only 16 months old, and the other 11 years old. Both had
been in kidney failure since birth. Both stories received tremendous
responses, and it was then I knew that setting up more personal
interviews for other children was the formula to see potential donors
volunteer to become a child’s hero. But to do that, I would have to
cover over 18,000 miles in my plan to cover the 48 contiguous states,
as well as to carry on 50 or more Tv and newspaper interviews. So now,
my friends, the plans for that full trip are entirely in the works,
but I need your help to save a minimum of 100 kids' lives. And I need
it today so I can schedule Tv and newspaper interviews in 50 cities.
And plan my travel route. I must cover the costs of electrical
charging, hotel, meals, press releases, insurance, and editing of
filming in each city for our documentary on living kidney donation to
children -which will save even more lives. #christmaschallenge
Challenge:
Are you willing to put saving the lives of children on your
Christmas list this year? I am making a challenge to
everyone reading this campaign to show you care
this Christmas and make sure this life-saving journey
is completed!
Please review these media links and photos, and help me get more
stories like these seen and children's lives saved by making your
donation today! Any funds not used on this journey
will be donated directly to the Kidneys For Kids family mission.
Kidneys For Kids is a 5013c EIN 88-2341457
Thank you, friends! Brian Martindale- Executive Director
#mission #kidneysforkids #shareyourspare #gofundme #fundraiser #kids
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