Gracias por estar aquí.
Hoy por ti, mañana por mí.
HELP US!
This Beloved Teacher Desperately Needs a Living Kidney Donor to Survive
Please Save My Teacher
Please Save My Daughter
Please Save My Sister
Please Save My Aunt
Please Save My Best Friend
Student Testimonial
"You are a jewel to the world. Even on my worst days, you always knew how to bring out my best. Your discipline and life lessons shaped my adult life more than I understood at the time... you still inspire me 20 years later"
Donors' Top 5 Questions
What are the real risks of donating a kidney? Will this shorten my life?
Kidney donation is major surgery and, like any surgery, the risk isn't zero. However, based on the latest research, the risk is in the range of a tonsillectomy or appendectomy. For the latest research, see Q&A under Donor Protect 360.
How can I survive with one kidney?
Our kidneys are the ONLY organ in the human body with a built-in spare. After donation, your remaining kidney grows up to 20% and takes over the job of two. Living with one kidney isn't that rare. About 1 in 750 people in the US are born with one kidney and live normal lives.
What if something happens to my remaining kidney after donation?
Northwestern Medicine partners with the National Kidney Registry or Alliance for Paired Kidney Donation. Both partners provide a "lifetime safety net" so, in the rare case something happens to your kidney, you are prioritized for a new living kidney.
I can't afford medical costs, "time off" from work and the out-of-pocket expenses.
First, your medical expenses are covered by the patient's insurance. Second, the donation process is designed to be "cost neutral." That means you are reimbursed for lost wages and expenses through your transplant hospital's partnership with the National Kidney Registry or Alliance for Paired Kidney Donation.
The chances I'm a match seem small. Why bother at all?
Not a match? Doesn't matter - you still save the patient's life through "paired kidney donation" and maybe even more!
Watch CBS News and see a real kidney donor explain how it works.
Student Testimonial
"You are a jewel to the world. Even on my worst days, you always knew how to bring out my best. Your discipline and life lessons shaped my adult life more than I understood at the time... you still inspire me 20 years later"
Are You an Angel?
I Need a Miracle.
A Personal Message from Meredith...
I never imagined I would be asking the public for something this personal.
My name is Meredith. I've been a teacher for 28 years and also an active member of New Maywood Church.
Doctors have told me that the waiting time for a deceased-donor kidney can be more than five years. Unfortunately, they also believe my health may not allow me to wait that long. That is why my family and friends created this website and why we are reaching out for help.
Many people who love me have already stepped forward and gone through testing, but some were not able to donate for medical reasons. Because of that, we are hoping someone we have not met yet might be willing to take the first step and learn more about becoming my angel - a living donor.
For most of my life I have tried to serve others — especially the children and families entrusted to me as a teacher. My classroom has always been more than just a classroom. It has been a place where students could feel safe, encouraged, and believed in.
If I am blessed with a transplant, I hope to continue doing what I love most: serving my community, supporting children and families, and sharing the faith and hope that have carried me through this journey.
This website was created to answer the real questions potential donors ask - about safety, medical coverage, financial protections, evaluation, surgery and recovery. If you are simply curious and want to learn more, the first step is a short, confidential evaluation with the transplant team. So, two pages of this website are dedicated specifically to potential donors - "Donor Protections" and "Donation Process."
Whether you are able to help or simply keep me in your prayers, I am deeply grateful. Thank you for taking the time to be here. If you'd like to know more about my life, faith and the people I serve, visit "More Meredith" on the next page.
- Meredith
This is Why Living Donation Matters
Anyone Can Be A Living Kidney Donor
Ever Seen a Miracle Happen? Watch This!
Useful Facts for the Deeply Curous
Special Challenges Facing African Americans
Black/African Americans are overrepresented among people waiting for transplant compared with their share of organ donors. In 2025, Black/African Americans made up 27.0% of all candidates on the national organ transplant waiting list and 29.1% of kidney waiting-list candidates. In 2024, Black/African Americans received 22.8% of all U.S. organ transplants, but represented only 12.6% of all organ donors. The donor gap is larger for living donation: Black/African Americans represented 14.8% of deceased donors, but only 7.3% of living donors.
The living donor gap matters in kidney transplantation because living donor kidneys usually offer shorter wait times and longer graft survival than deceased donor kidneys. In 2024, only 16.9% of Black/African American organ donors were living donors, compared with 29.3% of all U.S. organ donors. Recent national policy changes have improved wait-list fairness for Black kidney candidates affected by older race-based eGFR calculations; OPTN/HRSA reports that eligible Black kidney candidates can receive corrected waiting time they would have had under a race-neutral calculation. That policy addresses wait-time disadvantage, but it does not close the living donor gap.
Sources: HHS Office of Minority Health , Human Resources & Services Administration, Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients 2023 Annual Report, American Journal of Transplantation on OPTN./SRTR 2023 Annual Data Report: Kidney (February, 2025).
As of April, 2026, about 90,000 of the 103,000 people in the U.S. waiting for an organ transplant are kidney patients. Every day, 12-13 people die waiting for a kidney transplant.
The median wait time for a deceased-donor kidney is 56 months in the US, but varies depending on blood type, location and even the hospital system, according to National Kidney Foundation and Duke Health. Wait times by blood type are:
• O: 5-7 years
• A: 3-5 years
• B: 6-7 years
• AB: 1-7 years
Living donor transplants last longer than deceased donor kidney transplants, based on a study of over 330,000 adult kidney transplants, with median graft survival 19.2 years vs. 11.7 years. A living donor transplant offers two advantages at once — a faster path to transplant and a kidney that tends to function longer. Sources: American Journal of Transplantation (2021), American Journal of Transplantation (2025) on findings in OPTN/SRTR 2023 Annual Report, and the National Institutes of Health National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases' analysis of the United Stated Renal Data System 2025 Annual Data Report