Last evening, at NKF’s 2018 World Kidney Day Congressional Reception, the National Kidney Foundation, kidney patients, and our Summit partners honored Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), Rep. George Holding (R-NC), Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-NC), and Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA) for their efforts to promote early detection and treatment of chronic kidney disease.
The World Kidney Day Congressional Reception was chaired by former United States Health and Human Services Secretary and Governor of Wisconsin Tommy Thompson who also received an award for his five years of outstanding service and dedication to the NKF and his longstanding commitment to organ donation awareness. He gave out the evening’s other awards with the help of the NKF Kid Ambassador Angelica Hale whose beautiful performance of The Greatest Love of All brought joy and inspiration to many kidney patients and staff in the audience. “Helping kids and people with kidney disease is my mission,” said Angelica. “I really hope I can help as many people as possible.” You can watch Angelica’s entire performance on her Facebook page.
From left: NKF CEO Kevin Longino, Rep. Markwayne Mullin, Angelica Hale, and Gov. Tommy Thompson
The evening was marked with the words of encouragement and praise for the efforts of our kidney advocates, as well as support for the Living Donor Protection Act (H.R. 1270) and the CKD Early Detection and Treatment bill (H.R. 3867). “Personal stories really make a difference. I want to thank you for coming here and sharing yours,” said Rep. Mullin. “You sometimes come to the Hill and you leave thinking, ‘What did I really do except waste time?’ But you didn’t because you touched a lot of people’s hearts. You make my job much easier.”
As advocates begin to depart from the 5th Annual Kidney Patient Summit in Washington, D.C., we asked them to reflect on their meetings and the impact they had on their legislators.
“It was so amazing to be able to visit the Senate Office buildings to share my personal connection to kidney disease while following up with Senator Kristen Gillibrand and Senator Chuck Schumer regarding the Living Donor Protection Act. What a perfect way to get an early start to the World Kidney Day! I want to thank the National Kidney Foundation for their continued support,” said Rahmeka Cox, a Kidney Advocacy Committee member from New York.
Visit the Summit website to learn more about the event, to see some of the materials being given to your legislators, check out photos from last year, or write your legislators.
Advocacy in Action 