Who Your Charity Kidney Kars / TowKars.org Donation Helps in Utah

I am writing this letter of support for the National Kidney Foundation of Utah and Idaho. I have worked with
this program as a renal social worker for over 17 years. They have consistently been the best, quickest
and most compassionate entity, that I have worked with to help my dialysis patients. They have many
services that help patients from the mundane to the life changing.
The National Kidney Foundation of Utah and Idaho have helped my patients in many ways with their
emergency grants. Dialysis can be very disruptive to a person’s life. It can be difficult to maintain
employment while on dialysis, due to fatigue, illness and lack of available time due to dialysis
treatments. Many of the patients I have worked with have been financial devastated. They live with
razor thin margins and any disruption to their finances can send them spiraling towards a financial
disaster.
This is where the National Kidney Foundation of Utah and Idaho is so vital. They make it so that patients
can weather many of the financial worries that come from being on dialysis. Recently, they have helped
to prevent evictions, fix cars, and to help patients keep utility services going. Many of my patient’s
quality of life would be diminished without the programs of the National Kidney Foundation of Utah and
Idaho and several would have their financial and medical health imperiled without their programs.
Another program that is phenomenal that they do every year is their Family Kidney Camps. I have
several patients, that this program is the one thing that they really look forward to every year. It gives
people a chance to feel normal and have fun with other people in similar circumstances. I have had
many patients go, who were struggling with isolation and depression, that came back from it with a
happy glow and a resolve to work to get a transplant or embrace dialysis and to feel better. It is not
uncommon to hear a patient refer to something they learned or describe an insight that changed their
emotional outlook regarding their lives and how they live with End Stage Renal disease. It is something
patients’ whole families will look forward to. For many of them this is one of the few moments that they
can relax, laugh and recharge. It is especially important for younger dialysis patients, who get a chance
to meet others sharing the same burdens and to share their hopes, fears, and laughter.
I offer my strongest endorsement for these and the many other programs of the National Kidney
Foundation of Utah and Idaho. They truly improve the quality of life for so many of my patients.
Sincerely,

Matt Groen LCSW