Nearly 100,000 people in the U.S. are waiting for a kidney transplant, but each year, only about 6,500 individuals step forward as living kidney donors. The rest remain on the list — sometimes for years — hoping their turn will come. The reality is simple: too few donors, too many patients.
Kidneys for Communities offers a solution. Through Community-Directed Donation, living donors can choose to direct their kidney to a specific community they want to support — first responders, faith groups, unions, alumni networks, fraternities and sororities, and others. This personalized approach not only gives meaning to the donor’s decision but can also spark a kidney chain that saves dozens of lives.
At Fire-Rescue International 2025, Fire Chief Marc Bashoor spoke with the CEO and Board President of Kidneys for Communities, Atul Agnihotri — a kidney recipient himself — about the group’s free services to patients and donors, and how to raise awareness and support for living donors.
Several fire service industry groups have shown their support for Kidneys for Communities over the years. During National Kidney Month in 2024, the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation and the First Responder Center for Excellence, along with the Knox Company, partnered with Kidneys for Communities and its Kidneys for First Responders initiative to support and directly help those in desperate need of a kidney transplant.
