Thank you for being part of our Kidney Companions community.

Here we will provide updates, highlight the people within Kidney Companions, and share stories and actions you can take in a broader community.

This month we celebrate a new kidney for one of our Kidney Companion partners! After more than 5 long years of struggling with ups and downs and several setbacks along the way, his resilience paid off – and with him we celebrate, as a program, our 7th kidney transplant. Just last week, Kidney Companions drove our partner to his first follow-up appointment where he got an excellent report on the status of the new kidney. This is a remarkable story that juxtaposes a story of resilience and struggle with one of extraordinary kindness and generosity, as our Kidney Companion partner was ultimately rewarded with an altruistic living donor kidney! Our partner was the final recipient of a donor chain that involved several patients receiving kidneys along the way, and it was all initiated by an altruistic donation by one very generous person who started the chain. This was made possible by the National Kidney Registry (NKR), a national organization that links living donor pairs across the country via participating member transplant programs. Such stories are a humbling but optimistic reminder of the good things that can and do happen in our communities.

We host a monthly drop in gathering for all who are interested in learning about Kidney Companions. We will always have an existing volunteer there for you to ask questions and listen to their experience. This is a great time to explore your interest in becoming a volunteer or invite someone who you think would be interested.

Our next gathering will be at Workshop Brewing:

Thursday, March 12
5-7*

*Please note, their trivia night starts at 7pm

221 Garland St Traverse City, MI

We would love more walkers!

Join us Tuesdays at 9:15 am and/or Wednesdays at 11 am for a casual walk with lovely company around the Commons or in the mall. Email molly@kidneycompanions.org for questions and whether you would like to be added to the group chat and be sure to not miss anything!