Dear Mrs. Vetterli:  I am writing this note on behalf of my husband Mike A. who passed away July 1, 2010.  He was a dialysis patient for the past 4 years.  Each time we were benefactors of the Kidney Foundation we would write a note acknowledging the members and donors who made those funds available.  This will be our last note of gratitude.  Before Mike died, he missed a dialysis treatment because we did not have the money for gas.  His social worker, Scott, gave him a $20.00 bill from his own pocket and asked Mike to promise he would never miss a dialysis treatment again.  Mike and I were lucky to receive a gas card from the Kidney Foundation which enabled us to keep that promise.  Mike’s social worker and the Kidney Foundation were important to us.  Scott spoke recently at Mike’ s funeral.  We were so fortunate to have advocates like Scott, and the Kidney Foundation looking out for us.  On behalf of all kidney patients who benefit from your patient services, we thank you one last and final time.  Sincerely,  Helen A.

Dear Kidney Foundation of Utah,  I appreciate all that you have done for me.  I am so thankful to receive my new glasses.  I can see much better now.  I wish I had better words to express my appreciation, but when I try it just makes me want to cry in gratitude.  Thank you so much.  Respectfully,  R. Vasquez

Dear Kidney Foundation, Thank you so much for helping me with my dental bill.  It was too expensive for me to pay, and Medicaid does not cover dental.  I thank you greatly for the help.  Since being on dialysis, I only receive my social security money, and it is not much.  I’m sorry my handwriting is so bad, I broke my arm last week and have to write this with my left hand. ….anway, thanks again Kidney Foundation for your help.  Diaysis and my broken arm are my only concerns this week now that I don’t have to worry about how to pay the dentist too!  Sincerely, Alice M.

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

My name is Holly,  I am writing a little note to say thank you to all the people who donate their cars to the National Kidney Foundation of Utah’s Kidney Kars donation program.  The National Kidney Foundation of Utah recently helped me pay my dental bill, which I couldn’t afford to pay.  If you are wondering why going to the dentist is so important  to someone like me with kidney failure–consider the fact that I will be take off the transplant waiting list if I do not visit the dentist and am not current on my dental care.  You can not receive a transplant with any kind of infection, and not even a cavity.  Kidney patients often struggle with the cost of going to the dentist on top of all their other medical expeneses.  So to you, the Kidney Kars donors and the National Kidney Foundation of Utah–I say THANK YOU! for helping me pay to go to the dentist, and keeping me on the transplant waiting list. With any luck, I’ll get a call soon!  Sincerely,   Holly L. 

Dear Kidney Foundation, My family and I would like to thank the donors, board members, and friends who made helping us pay our rent & gas possible.  Last fall Daniel (the main provider for our family) was diagnosed with end stage renal failure.  While I was searching for a job, we still had no way of bridging the gap between our new medical expenses and paying for rent, with the new financial burden of getting Daniel to and from dialysis three days a week.  Without your help and generosity, we would have been truly lost.  We are very grateful there are people and charities out there willing to help lend a hand to those in need–people they have never met.  We just want to say, thank you for helping us, for helping our family.  From the bottom of our hearts, Daniel & Julie C.

I wanted to thank the foundation for the generous scholarship I received.  Going to college has gone from a dream to reality.  But without the assistance the National Kidney Foundation of Utah has provided, I do not know where I’d be today. You are helping me make a better life for myself.  I’m 21 now, but when I was 16 I received a kidney transplant.  It changed my life.  Being sick makes you wonder if you will ever be able to accomplish anything and now I have the world at my fingertips.  I am the first person in my family to go to college.  I am in my final semester of the Occupational Therapy Assistance program at Salt Lake Community College.  I have always had an interest in the medical field.  I am very grateful to be able to persue my passion.  The Kidney Foundation does wonderful things and I will forever be grateful for how you have helped me since my transplant.  Sincerely, Brooke R.