ROCKVILLE, Md., Jan. 14, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, the American Kidney Fund (AKF) announced the consolidation of two vital initiatives—the David Atkins Fund and the living kidney donor program in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area—that aim to remove financial barriers to living donation. Now known as AKF’s Living Donor Assistance Program, this effort, which is funded with support from local donors, will continue to provide financial assistance to living kidney donors anywhere in the country who are donating a kidney to recipients in Massachusetts, the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and New York City.  

The combined Living Donor Assistance Program, which AKF hopes to expand to other geographic areas as it receives additional funding, will help living kidney donors pay for out-of-pocket costs that frequently come with donating an organ.

“Giving an organ to someone in need is one of the most selfless choices a person can make; living donors should not be saddled with expensive out-of-pocket costs after being so generous,” said LaVarne A. Burton, AKF President and CEO. “We are proud to have helped over 50 living donors to date give the gift of life and we are excited about the potential to grow the Living Donor Assistance Program and ultimately play a part in saving more lives.”

AKF launched the David Atkins Fund in late 2023 in collaboration with Matt and Julia Glazier; it was named in honor of Matt Glazier’s kidney donor David Atkins. The program provides grants of up to $2,500 for living donors who either do not qualify for state financial support or who have supplemental expenses they need covered.

“You don’t realize how much you [pay] for parking, meals and gas – as well as wear and tear on your car – until you start adding it up,” said Robin Murphy, a David Atkins Fund grant recipient who donated her kidney to a close friend. “All of a sudden, it became apparent, and [the David Atkins Fund] really took a lot of pressure off [of me].”

AKF started its Washington, D.C. metropolitan area living donor program, which was made possible with support from the Sievers Family Charitable Fund, in October 2024. The program provides one-time financial assistance grants up to $2,500 to living donors who provide a kidney to a recipient whose evaluation and/or surgery takes place at one of seven hospitals in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Northern Virginia.

Over 104,000 Americans are on the organ transplant waiting list and over 92,000 of them are waiting for a kidney, with over 5,000 people on the kidney transplant waitlist in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia. In Massachusetts, over 3,000 people are on the kidney transplant waitlist. Out of the 28,492 kidney transplants performed in the United States in 2024, 6,418 of them were made possible by living donors[1].

[1] Information retrieved Jan. 13, 2025 from the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network.

About the American Kidney Fund

The American Kidney Fund (AKF) fights kidney disease on all fronts as the nonprofit with the greatest direct impact on people with kidney disease. AKF works on behalf of 1 in 7 Americans living with kidney disease, and the millions more at risk, with an unmatched scope of programs that support people wherever they are in their fight against kidney disease—from prevention through transplant. AKF fights for kidney health for all through programs that address early detection, disease management, financial assistance, clinical research, innovation and advocacy. AKF is one of the nation’s top-rated nonprofits, investing 97 cents of every donated dollar in programs, and it has received 24 consecutive 4-Star ratings from Charity Navigator as well as the Platinum Seal of Transparency from Candid, formerly known as GuideStar.

For more information, please visit KidneyFund.org, or connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.

Nancy Gregory
American Kidney Fund
(240) 292-7077
ngregory@kidneyfund.org