Dorothy Drinnan and Margaret Thompson will be the co-honourees of the 2016 Kamloops Kidney Walk.
Image Credit: Contributed/Kamloops Kidney Walk
September 23, 2016 - 11:10 AM
KAMLOOPS - The 2016 Kamloops Kidney Walk is all set to go at McDonald Park this Sunday, Sept. 25.
Registration will begin at 10 a.m., with the walk to start at 11:00 p.m. Participants will be able to walk as far as they choose, to a maximum of 2.5 km, along the Rivers Trail.
The walk is in support of kidney transplantation and organ donation, and is open to all. There is no registration fee and there will be a lunch afterwards — it will be by donation and is to be provided by Cora’s Breakfast & Lunch.
The annual walk is the main fundraiser for the Kidney Foundation and helps to support patient services. That could include financial support to someone having a kidney transplant because he/she would need to live in the Vancouver area for up to eight weeks.
Organizers of the Kamloops Walk also choose each year to honour someone who has been involved in the fight against kidney disease and the promotion of transplants and organ donation.
This year’s honourees are Dorothy Drinnan and Margaret Thompson, both of whom live in Kamloops and have undergone kidney transplants. They have been instrumental in the formation of the Kamloops Kidney Support Group (KKSG), an organization that provides support to those who are dealing with pre- or post-dialysis, pre- or post-transplant, be it as a recipient or a donor, or anything in between.
The KKSG meets on the second Saturday of every month at Romeo’s Kitchen in the Coast Kamloops Hotel and Conference Centre.
In the region served by RIH, there are about 1,200 patients with chronic kidney disease. Of those, 138 are on dialysis and 75 are on the waiting list for a transplant. To donate to a team or an individual, please go to the B.C. Kidney Walk website.
As of Sunday evening, Kamloops was fifth in B.C., having raised $7,360. Among teams, Jeannette’s Power Chair/Linda’s Team of Memories was 14th, with $1,397. Among individual fund-raisers, Drinnan was seventh ($1,961), with Linda Bonner-Brown 11th ($1,397) and Roland (Barrie) Bueckert 18th ($650).
As well, a silent online auction is being held as part of the 2016 Kidney Walk. It will run from Sept. 19 to Sept. 29 with new items appearing throughout the 10 days.
Among the items available will be ski passes to Sun Peaks and two nights at Nancy Greene’s Cahilty Hotel and Suites; four 18-hole passes from the Kamloops Golf and Country Club; and a quilt from Katja’s Quilt Shoppe.
The auction can be found online here.
News from © iNFOnews, 2016