Throughout the pandemic, our experiences of isolation brought a new, heightened perspective on the importance of community. We’ve endured a prolonged separation from our cherished connections, but that distance has only ignited a greater mission to strengthen the communities where we belong.

At Kidneys for Communities, we’re harnessing the power of connection through the first-ever national program Community-Directed Donation™. In this donation model, potential donors can direct their life-saving gift to someone in need, based on the community they want to support.

From membership-based associations to your local Roller Derby, we’re bridging the gap between people who may not know each other, but want to help. It’s strangers helping strangers, which while increasingly necessary to save lives, is not so common.

You might have seen the heartwarming stories of community compassion, such as the teacher who donated a kidney to another educator prior to ever meeting in person. While this power of connection and shared interest is a familiar story, kidney donation is often left to happenstance or individual outreach efforts.

In fact, altruistic donations account for only 3% of the annual living donor pool of transplanted kidneys in the United States. With this program in place, Kidneys for Communities is working to make the living kidney donor shortage a thing of the past.

Through Kidneys for Communities, a person can donate their kidney on a community member’s behalf, based on a voucher concept. The member in need is then entered into a pool where they’re matched with a viable donor.

This creates a paired kidney donation chain that allows for at least two people to receive a kidney: the member of the respective community and another recipient in need.

Interested in getting your community involved in saving the lives of fellow members? Click here to talk to our team about the “Put Your Kidney Where Your Heart Is” toolkit to empower members to learn more about kidney donation and support others in their organizations.