Bay City Nonprofit Kidneys For Kids Drives Nationwide Push For 7,000 Living kidney Donors
USA: March’s National kidney Month has galvanized a Bay City nonprofit into an ambitious campaign to shrink the nation’s kidney transplant waiting list. With nearly 100,000 people in the United States awaiting a life-saving kidney transplant, Kidneys for Kids is mounting a cross-country drive and producing a documentary to raise awareness and recruit 7,000 potential living donors.
The campaign is deeply personal for individuals like Sarah Meyer of Bay City, who was diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease as a teenager and now spends hours each week on dialysis after her kidneys ceased functioning. Meyer’s daily reality is the uncertainty of waiting for transplantation, sustained by family support and determination as she navigates life on dialysis and hopes for a living donor match.
Kidneys for Kids was founded by Brian Martenddale, who first became involved in living donor transplantation when he donated a kidney to a 10-year-old named Jessica in 2013. Since then, the nonprofit has successfully matched 18 children and one adult with kidney donors and now seeks to expand that record. Organ procurement language is addressed through outreach focused on living kidney donation, noting how rare living donation remains — roughly one in 50,000 people will offer a kidney as a living donor.
The organization’s dual strategy — storytelling through film and an on-the-ground recruitment tour — aims to turn waiting lists into real transplant opportunities. By bringing patient narratives and donor information into communities across the country, Kidneys for Kids hopes to accelerate matches and broaden public understanding of transplantation needs. The effort frames transplantation not only as a medical procedure but as a logistical and social mission requiring donors, awareness, and sustained community support.
Video originally published on 2026-03-05 06:42:33
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