Living Donor Love: Share Your Spare

Dear Friends,

We write to you today with an urgent plea for help. One of the members of our BJBE family, Dr. Gary Greenberg, is in dire need of a life-saving kidney transplant from a living donor. Without a transplant, Gary is facing kidney-failure within the next 3-6 months. Unfortunately, not one of Gary's immediate family members is a viable donor, which is why we are turning to you. It will take only one person who is both a match and a willing donor to save Gary’s life. You or someone you know could be that person. There are two things you can do to help:

1.      Spread the word. “Like” Gary’s Facebook page, learn more by visiting www.livingdonorlove.com and share Gary’s story.

2.      Consider donating your kidney. If you are interested in the possibility, download these required forms, complete and fax back to the hospital at 312-695-0036.  It can take as long as 2-3 weeks before you will hear if you have been approved to move to the next level of screening.

We realize that donating a kidney is something you may never have considered before. We would like to share with you these thoughts from Brian Kunz, a BJBE congregant who earlier this year donated his kidney to save the life of his friend:

It is such a wonderful feeling to know that I had the power to help someone in this way. It’s almost indescribable. Just to see my friend happy and alive puts a smile on my face. I know what I did not only made a difference in his life, but it also made a difference in the lives of his entire family. If I could do it again, I would absolutely do it again.

If donating your kidney is an option you are willing to consider, Brian has graciously offered to speak with you about what is involved. You can contact him at kunzbrianj@aol.com. 

The Talmud teaches that “Anyone who saves a single life, it is as though he or she saves an entire world.” Gary, his wife Marti, and their sons Ben and Bret are desperately in need of our help, and we have the power to make a difference in their world. Time is of the essence, so please act now.

Thank you in advance for your help,

Rabbi Karyn Kedar
Rabbi Brian Stoller
Cantor Jennifer Frost
Cantor Ross Wolman