David Atkins Living Donor Assistance Fund

Grant Specifics:

• Grants intended for reimbursement of out-of-pocket travel-related and childcare expenses
• Grants up to $2,500/per donor
• One, lifetime grant available per living kidney donor

Eligibility:

• Open to living kidney donors who donated on or after 1/1/2023
• Kidney recipient's evaluation and/or surgery took place at a Massachusetts or New York City area hospital
• Donor incurred out of pocket expenses not covered by insurance
• Applicants must permanently reside in the U.S. or its territories
• Living donor or recipient financial information is not required or considered when evaluating
  applicants for program eligibility.

Click here to apply for a grant if your surgery took place in Massachusetts

Click here to apply for a grant if your surgery took place in New York City

About the Founder, Matt Glazier and AKF David Atkins Living Donor Assistance Fund

I had always been an incredibly adventurous, active person. I traveled frequently and valued my time spent exploring new places and meeting new people. Fortunately, for most of my life, I was very healthy. But in late 2020, I started feeling really sick. I became overwhelmed by constant fatigue and soon I was unable to be physically active. In January, 2021, I was hospitalized after blood work revealed my kidneys were failing. A diagnosis from doctors in Boston revealed a rare genetic disease which caused this abrupt kidney failure. I was quickly put on dialysis, given countless amounts of medication, and told I would need a kidney transplant as soon as possible.

For the millions of other Americans who had similar conversations with their doctors that I had that January, they know the  transplant process is not an easy one. Nearly 2,000 cases of kidney failure are diagnosed in my state of Massachusetts each year, and less than 5% receive a kidney transplant. The average wait time for a deceased kidney donor is about 4 years. Finding a living donor can speed up this process drastically, but campaigning to find a match can feel daunting, especially while facing the added challenge of dialysis treatment.

Six months after receiving my diagnosis, and with barely any movement in finding a donor, my amazing wife Julia took to social media to ask for help. Her post went viral and applications began pouring in. I knew my match had to be in this group of selfless people.

David Atkins and I met in 2018 when we were both living in San Francisco. Dave and his wife Faith, became fast friends with me and Julia. We were all living in a new city, and we leaned on each other while we explored and adventured in Northern California. Though we didn't know each other long, our friendship grew quickly.  So, when Dave heard about my situation, he immediately came forward as a potential donor. I started believing the transplant was possible. And after months of extensive testing, Dave was deemed the best match for me in late Summer 2021.

We went into surgery in September of 2021 and I'm happy to report that today I feel stronger than ever. Dave's and my case was the perfect storm of a thousand details "going right" in order to make this happen. But it's not that easy for the 1 in 7 American adults living with Kidney-related diseases.

I was incredibly fortunate to find a donor like Dave: That he had the knowledge and resources to understand the risks and benefits of organ donation, that he was financially able to take time off of work, and was willing and able to leave his family to fly to Boston for endless testing. And of course, that he was almost a perfect genetic match. Dave saved my life and gave me the gift of a second chance. I am one of the lucky ones. For more about Dave's and my story, please watch the beautiful segment The Today Show put together for their "Week of Gratitude" in December 2021 here.

Julia and I often think about how difficult the donor process is for most people, and how lucky we were to have such an amazing network willing to support us. Our goal now is to pay it forward. So, we teamed up with the American Kidney Fund to start the David Atkins Living Donor Assistance Fund, which focuses on improving support for current and potential organ donors by reducing financial and educational frictions. The grants distributed to donors help pay for supplemental expenses not covered by insurance: from childcare to travel expenses, to lost wages due to time taken off work. 

In the five months since the David Atkins Fund launched, we have issued 32 grants to Massachusetts transplant centers representing donors from 10 different states. We have distributed more than $50,000 to these life-saving donors. And, officially launching in June, the fund will be available in New York City - area hospitals.

We're so thrilled to be able to give back, and are honored to help my kidney patient peers, and the heroes who give them a second chance.