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)

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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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.

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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.

The holiday season is tough enough without the additional frustration of having Polycystic Kidney Disease. Thank-you for your support.  I work for a company that offers good health insurance–for which I am grateful…but the longer I live with the disease, the co-pays, deductibles, and out-of-pocket expenses–soon begin to take their toll on the budget.  The $350 gift to help us pay for some of our medications in the month of December gave me tremendous hope that I can keep on trying and working.  I will never be able to thank-you enough for what you do for us patients and those of us who feel victim to the relentlessness of kidney disease.  My love and respect goes out to you and all the wonderful donors of the Kidney Foundation that help people like us.   Sincerely, David J.

Dear Kidney Foundation:  Thank you so much for the gas card to help us buy fuel to get to and from dialysis this week.  We have to make the 130 mile round trip 3 times a week.  We live in Panguich, and must drive over the mountain pass (Bear Valley, Hwy 20) to get to Cedar City–even in bad weather–because my husband simply can not miss dialysis or he will die.   We have put our home up for sale in order to move closer to the clinic, but it is very sad.  My husband was born in this very bedroom. It is a very old home, and special to us, but don’t know if anyone will even buy it.   In the meantime, we will make the drive to Cedar City, faithfully 3 times a week.  Thank you for your help and assistance in helping us get there.  Please let me know if I can do anything to help the Foundation.  I am good at making flyers and advertising, and have run a blood drive at our Church Social Hall.  Let me know if this is helpful, I want to help and return the favor to your organization.  Thank you again for your help, and concern for our wellfare.  Sincerely,   David & Connie O.

Dear Kidney Kars, I am writing to give thanks for all you have done for me to help me stay current on my insurance premiums.  Living with kidney failure has so many aspects that need to be addressed– always when you least expect it.  Last week, I had surgery to try and place a Peritoneal Dialysis catheter so I can dialyze at home.  This has been a long process to get that to work, and when I got to dialysis on Friday, my fistula clotted, and I needed to have a fistula-gram to open it up again.  This was much unexpected– but so like kidney failure.  Thank you again for the help and burden it relieves me of.  Merry Christmas to your donors who help improve our lives with their Kidney Kars and other donations.  R. Hammon

Dear Friends of the National Kidney Foundation of Utah:  I’ve been fighting renal failure for 2 1/2 years.  I’ve had lots of testing, with the end result of having a fistula put in my left arm, and doing 3 hours of dialysis 3 times a week.  I started dialysis last December 8, 2008.  One of the ‘blessings’ of end stage renal failure is all the love and giving from friends and family, and organizations like the  Kidney Foundation!  My ‘baby’ brother, and his wife have started the process of being tested to see if they can donate a kidney to me.  Words can not express my feelings of thanks and gratitude.  I am so grateful for the generosity of others, my family and the Kidney Foundation. Thank you, thank you!  From the bottom of my “kidney.”  –B. Jackson