During COVID-19, Utah and Idaho Kidney Patients Need Help Now More Than Ever

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Because kidney patients don’t have the luxury of staying home: #CoronaVirus

The Difficulties Kidney Patients Face

Each year the National Kidney Foundation of Utah & Idaho serves 3,000 dialysis and transplant recipients in those states. There are over 500,000 kidney patients in the country who, on a good year, struggle to pay their medical bills, housing or transportation to and from dialysis.  WWW.TowKars.org is the primary source of that funding. When the price of gasoline soared to $4.00 a gallon in 2008, some patients literally could not afford the fuel to drive themselves to dialysis.  We received good-bye letters from patients, thanking us for helping them through kidney failure–but they were giving up on dialysis.  Think about that.  They were choosing to die quietly, because of the cost of gas.

Today, we have a different challenge: sheltering in place because of the Coronavirus. But self-quarantine and shelter in place isn’t an option for kidney patients.  Staying at home to limit pathogens while in groups, churches, at the grocery story, or gas station seems like a great idea when you have food in the fridge and don’t need to go to a clinic several times a week to stay alive. Hospital/clinic environments are especially dangerous to the immune-suppressed (which is every kidney patient in America). But kidney patients can’t NOT go to dialysis, even when the healthcare system is overwhelmed by a pandemic.  How do patients decide? Do they risk contracting Coronavirus by going to dialysis in order to stay alive, or stay at home and die of kidney failure?

Hopefully they don’t have to decide, and you can help.

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How to Get Rid of a Car | TowKars.org

How to Get Rid of A Car – Why You Should Consider Donating It

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All cars, even once dependable cars (cars that have seen you through thick and thin) eventually come to the end of the road. There are a few ways to get rid of a car. It helps to think your options through, decide what your goals are in getting rid of the car, and ask yourself some questions. Here are a few ideas on how to get rid of a car:

How to Get Rid of a Car: 3 Possibilities

Sell the car for cash.

Or at least see how much you could potentially get for it. Depending on how old the car is, what model it is, and how much damage has been done or repairs are needed, you could either get a solid chunk, or almost nothing at all. The downside of selling a car is that it can take a lot of effort to go through the process.  Read more

March is Kidney Month! Are you the 33%?

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March is National Kidney Month, and we are asking for your help in raising awareness about kidney disease. Kidney disease is the 9th leading cause of death in the U.S. and it is growing in prevalence. In fact, 33% of American adults are at risk for kidney disease and to get the at-risk population to take action, we must make kidney disease personal and relevant to them. World Kidney Day is March 12th, 2020 and the National Kidney Foundation is introducing a new campaign: Are you the 33%? to highlight the magnitude of that number. The campaign takes the conversation about kidney health to the next level and puts an actionable behavior in the hands of consumers, prompting them to take the kidney risk quiz and helping them become their own health advocates.

Here are 4 ways you can Take Action:

1. Raise Awareness Encourage your staff members, family, and friends to take the short one-minute kidney risk quiz to find out if they are at risk for kidney disease. Visit www.MinuteForYourKidneys.org

2. Spread the News Educate your employees about kidney disease prevention on your company’s intranet or through an internal newsletter. Our toolkit is full of shareable content such as articles and videos that provide important kidney health facts and wellness tips.

3. Challenge Your Employees to Wear Orange Orange is the signature color for kidney disease. Ask your employees to join you and commit to wearing orange on World Kidney Day, March 12, to raise awareness about the importance of kidneys to overall health. It can be a shirt, hat or even a pair of orange socks!

4. Join the Conversation Social media is a great vehicle for raising awareness. Encourage your staff to post their “orange” photos and encourage others to take the kidney risk quiz using #MinuteForYourKidneys Our toolkit also has sample tweets and Facebook posts to make sharing easy. Join us on March 12th, World Kidney Day, or anytime during National Kidney Month to help us raise awareness for kidney disease! For questions or to find out more ways you can spread the word, contact your local National Kidney Foundation affiliate at (801) 226-5111 or visit www.kidneyUT.org