More than 100,000 people in the U.S. are currently waiting for a kidney transplant, and donors are needed
PHOENIX — The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation’s First Responder Center of Excellence (FRCE) and the Knox Company have collaboratively launched Expand Your Legacy – Become a Living Kidney Donor, a campaign targeted to firefighters. The official launch is today at Fire-Rescue International (FRI) in Kansas City, MO.
The National Kidney Foundation estimates more than 100,000 people in the U.S. are currently waiting for a kidney transplant, and donors are needed. Over 3,000 new patients are added to the kidney waiting list each month. The Expand Your Legacy awareness campaign encourages firefighters to learn how to become a living kidney donor and help someone in need of a transplant continue living a long and healthy life.
Firefighters selflessly help others throughout their careers, and the Expand Your Legacy campaign includes testimonials from two firefighters that received a kidney from a live donor and are now living healthy and productive lives. Registering to be an organ and tissue donor is also stressed through the message of Kristina Moon, the widow of an FDNY firefighter who succumbed to injuries in a training drill last year, and through his wishes to be an organ donor, many others were helped through his generous gift of life.
The campaign also features the story of Joni Trempala, the CEO of the Knox Company, the manufacturer of products that firefighters rely on for access to locked properties, and her multi-year journey of waiting for a match with a kidney donor to have a transplant.
A four-part video series profiles these individuals and provides insight into being both an organ donor and a transplant recipient. Visit the FRCE homepage to access the videos and their educational information on the FRCE homepage at: FirstResponderCenter.org
For information on becoming a living kidney donor, visit: Kidney.org/NFFF
About the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation
The U.S. Congress created the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation to lead a nationwide effort to remember America’s fallen firefighters. Since 1992, the nonprofit Foundation (firehero.org) has developed and expanded programs to honor America’s fallen fire heroes; support their families, colleagues, and organizations; and work to reduce preventable firefighter deaths and injury. Created in 2016, the nonprofit FRCE is NFFF’s affiliate organization. Its mission is to promote quality educational awareness and research to reduce physical and psychological health and wellness issues for first responders.
About the Knox Company
Since 1975, the Knox Company has successfully developed innovative rapid access solutions for first responders with products that provide fast, safe, and secure entry into commercial, industrial, educational, and residential properties.