Dear Kidney Foundation:  You recently gifted us a payment toward our home mortgage during a very difficult financial time in which my husband, Aaron gave his kidney to our daughter Paige.  The surgery took place on May 21, 2010 and Aaron was not able to work for about three weeks following the surgery.  We are so grateful for the help afforded us at that time.  It took a huge burden off our shoulders as Aaron attempted to save our daughter’s life by giving her his own kidney.  Aaron is slowly recovering, and very pleased at how well Paige is doing!  Thank you and God bless you for your generosity.  Please be sure to thank the donors who made this possible.  Sincerely, V. Turner

 Dear Kidney Kars: Thanks so much for helping us! Ihelped my mother-in-law, Sammie, donate her car to the Kidney Foundation.  You have so well refined the process, it made it very easy. Kidney Kars of Utah was especially meaningful because Sammie’s niece, recently died of kidney failure, and her brother now endures dialysis.  Helping Sammie give her car to Kidney Kars made Sammie feel that she was continuing her lifelong pursuit of helping others, even though she now needs the care of a nursing home.  She knows her car will go to help people like her niece and her brother.  Bless you for helping us to help Sammie, and for making her (and us) feel like we really made a difference for kidney patients here in Utah.    In appreciation, K.E.  Wood (Sammie’s Daughter-in-law)

Dear Kidney Foundation: Thank you so much for the help you are giving to our father.  We have had four really hard years since his kidney stopped working and he’s been on dialysis.   The medical expenses have devastated his and my mother’s life. Dad has to drive 130 miles a week to receive dialysis treatments to keep him alive. Keeping the only car they have running and buying gas to get him to and from dialysis is more than they can afford.  Today they received a letter from Social Security informing them that they will be receiving $400 less a month from now on.  They have no idea how they are going to make it now.  They are  having to depend on the generosity of the local food bank now.  We are so grateful for the help you are providing through financial assistance.  They could not survive at all were it not for the generosity of others.  Sincerely, The Bird Family

We wanted to write a quick thank you to the National Kidney Foundation of Utah to say thank you for the help in buying us gasoline so I could drive from Logan to Ogden every day for two weeks so I could get trained helping my husband do diaysis here at home.  Getting trained to help him dialyze at home we knew would be a huge blessing for our family, but the extra expense in gas and time away from our young family was a hurdle we just have not been able to surpass. Thank you for helping us take at least one of the burdens from our shoulders.  Thank you to all the Kidney Foundation’s generous Kidney Kars donors, and other sponsors who help people like us living with kidney failure.  God Bless you.   K. Johnson

http://www.abc4.com/sports/story/Coaches-hit-the-links-for-charity/XKkvatl6Zkalo-97wW5h3Q.cspx

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700036893/Utah-BYU-coaches-lend-assist-to-Kidney-Foundation.html

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=635&sid=11011094

I’m Gary Coleman’s age.  He and I grew up together….only he was on TV every week.  About the time I reached puberty and grew 3 inches in a single summer, I learned he would never grow taller than 4’8 because of kidney failure.   I didn’t really watch Diff’rent Strokes that much, but I do remember it was the first time I’d heard of Kidney Failure or dialysis.  The idea that I would grow up, and he would forever be child-sized always stayed with me.   Later, when I came to work for the National Kidney Foundation of Utah, Gary Coleman –still pretty fresh from his stardom on TV came to many NKF events to help bring public awareness about kidney disease.  Gary’s life after the show was difficult and he was often in the news doing shocking things.  But he’d had a rough life; he’d worked really hard as a kid actor, was living with kidney failure, and would never grow to be the tall man he would have been were it not for kidney failure—all while in the public eye after being a child star.  I know his trouble didn’t stop when he came to Utah.  I always wondered why he settled in Santaquin. I hope he found some peace here in Utah Valley.  I know life on prednisone and other immunosuppressants (post transplant drugs) can make you really cranky, fuzzy, sick and a whole plethora of crazy. But what I want to remember is that, he used  his early celebrity status to help raise awareness for other people living with kidney disease.  Now days, there is early testing, better medicines to control underlying conditions that cause kidney failure, better transplantation techniques.  If Gary had been born even 10 year later than he was, perhaps his experience with Kidney Failure would not have been such a big part of his life story.  But it does not escape me, that he was my age, of my era, he lived in my town, he had kidney disease and I worked for the Kidney Foundation.  Now he’s gone at the age of 42.  I hope he is remembered for his charity work.  My deepest condolences go to those who loved and will miss him. –Luz Lewis

http://heraldextra.com/news/local/article_884391dc-6a8e-11df-b61c-001cc4c002e0.html

Gary Coleman has lived in Utah County since 2005. Although Coleman died of a brain hemorrhage, he suffered most of his life with chronic kidney failure. Coleman has been on dialysis, and had two kidney transplants. While his life here in Utah has not been without trouble, we send very sincere condolences to his family on behalf of the National Kidney Foundation of Utah & Idaho.

Hey! Here’s an idea for Mother’s Day. Give Mom’s old minivan to the National Kidney Foundation Kidney Kars donation program and get that woman some new wheels. That’s right…maybe Mama needs a Porsche 911 Turbo Carrera or a BMW Z4 instead of some lame card and some flowers. Just a thought…You know, because what some Moms really want for Mother’s Day is to drive away in a really, really fast car without room for the whole family. 

And remember, for that old minivan—when you donate it to Kidney Kars, towing is free and donations make a great tax deduction!  For more information, or to donate your car, van, truck or boat, call 1-800-TOW-KARS (869-5277) or donate online at www.towKars.org

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