Community & Local Sponsorships

Todd Patterson has been on the waitlist for a new kidney for three years now. During this time he has chosen to make the best of his life and spread awareness about how easy it can be to become a kidney donor. 

He has chosen one of his passions, horses, as a platform to raise awareness. Cheer him on in his ski joring competition this weekend! Todd is truly a remarkable man. He came to the realization "that you should live every day like it's your last, because tomorrow's not promised. To live in the moment and attack everything that comes your way. To worry less. Yesterday already passed and tomorrow is not promised." The most important message he wants to share is that you can become a LIVING ORGAN DONOR and give somebody a second chance at life. He shared with us that there are currently over 100,000 people (kids to adults) in need of an kidney donor. Many people don't realize that they can donate an organ, like a kidney, and live a perfectly normal life. We want to spread this message, not only hoping for a donor for Todd but possibly a donor for many other people in similar situations. There are two main organizations if you are interested in seeing what it takes to become a donor. 

The links are listed below. OTPN: https://otpn.transplant.hrsa.gov UNOS: https://unos.org He also informed us that if there are two people that have donors but are not matches for the transplant candidates, then The transplant Center arranges for "paired exchange," in which each donor gives a kidney to the recipient in the other pair. This allows two transplant candidates to receive organs and two donors to give organs even though the original recipient/donor pairs were incompatible.

We hope all the Flathead Highschool Braves & Bravettes band students had an amazing field trip at the 39th UM Concert Band Festival!! 🎼