This September 11 marks 25 years since a day that forever changed our country.

By Atul Agnihotri, CEO, Kidneys for Communities

 

For those of us who remember September 11, 2001, the images remain vivid. We remember the unimaginable loss. We remember the families whose lives changed in an instant. And we remember the firefighters, police officers, paramedics and other first responders who ran toward danger when everyone else was trying to escape it.

Today, 25 years later, hundreds of first responders gave the ultimate sacrifice while saving other human beings, while many of the first responders who answered the call on and after September 11 are still living with the health consequences of their service. As a result, Kidneys for Communities continues to assist Ground Zero Responders who are facing another life-changing challenge: kidney failure and the need for a transplant.

For Kidneys for Communities, supporting these Ground Zero Responders makes this anniversary especially personal.

These heroes stepped forward without hesitation when their communities and their country needed them the most. Now, as they search for living kidney donors, supporting them isn’t just a local community effort, but a shared responsibility for all of us to step forward in return.

That idea takes us back to something else worth remembering about September 11: what happened in the days and weeks that followed.
Americans showed up for one another.

People donated blood. They volunteered. They brought food to firehouses. They raised money for families they had never met. They found countless ways to help. Communities came together around a simple unbreakable truth: when one of us is in need, we show up.

Today, that same spirit is what will save their lives.

Every day, first responders put service before self. They protect our neighborhoods, answer calls in the middle of the night, respond to emergencies and help strangers through some of the worst moments of their lives.

When one of these community members develops kidney failure and needs a transplant, we believe their community and all of us can become an important part of the solution.

Living kidney donation is an extraordinary example of what can happen when people recognize the power they have to change another person’s life. A donor does not have to be a relative, or even personally know the recipient, or of the same blood group, to make that difference. Through community-directed living donation, one person’s decision to help can also become part of something larger, potentially creating a chain of transplants that helps multiple people.

We see that spirit firsthand in our work.

We have watched first responders step forward for fellow first responders. We have seen entire communities rally around members facing kidney disease. And today, as we work alongside Ground Zero Responders who need kidney transplants, we are reminded that our responsibility to those who served did not end when the smoke cleared or the recovery efforts ended.

Twenty-five years later, we still have an opportunity to show up for them.

On this anniversary, we honor the nearly 3,000 people whose lives were lost, hundreds of first responders who made the ultimate sacrifice, and the survivors, families and responders who continue to carry the impact of that day.

But remembrance can also inspire action.

We can learn about living kidney donation. We can register as organ donors. We can support families facing kidney disease. We can share the story of someone searching for a living donor. And we can check on the first responders who have spent their careers answering calls for the rest of us.

Most importantly, we can continue to build the kind of communities we saw emerge in the aftermath of September 11—communities in which people are willing to help someone they may not even know simply because that person needs them.

September 11 taught us many painful lessons. But it also reminded us of something powerful: community is more than geography or a uniform.

Community is what we do for one another.

At Kidneys for Communities, that belief guides our work every day.

On this solemn 25th anniversary, we remember those we lost. We honor those who served. And for the Ground Zero Responders who need our help today, we hope communities across the country will once again answer the call.

Atul Agnihotri
CEO
Kidneys for Communities