The supply of cadaveric kidneys (kidneys donated by a family who had lost a loved one), is not adequate to meet the demand. Over 55,000 people in our country are on the waiting list for kidney transplants and only about 16,000 kidney transplants are performed per year. It is a fact that although almost everyone is born with two kidneys, only one kidney is needed to lead a completely healthy life. This allows people to give the gift of life to people whose kidneys have failed. Kidneys from living donors are, in general, healthier that cadaveric organs because they’ve not incurred the trauma a cadaveric organ often sustains.

Statistically, the life expectancy of a kidney from a living donor is longer than that of a cadaveric kidney. Many centers are now doing more living-donor kidney transplants than cadaveric-donor transplants.

The goal of the Fred M. Leader Program for Living Donor Education is to increase the chances for renal failure patients to receive a kidney transplant within the shorter time frame than the current average of two-to-three years.

During the first year of our five-year plan, we are producing an educational video on living organ donation. This will be used as a tool by ‘educators’ – medical professionals, living donors, recipients of living donation – who will address audiences throughout KFCP’S 28 – county constituency, speaking to high schools, colleges, churches, synagogues, mosques, civic organizations, etc. about living donation.