Hadassah Greater Kansas City will promote organ donation across the United States at its fourth annual Touch of Red Gala: Celebrate Life! on Saturday, November 20, 7:30 to 9 p.m., via Zoom.
According to Co-Chairs Marian Kaplan, immediate past president, and Rita Shapiro, past chapter and Great Plains Region president, this year’s annual gala will be offered free to the community, region and beyond, because of the generosity of five anonymous local Hadassah donors.
Partners for the event are the Rabbinical Association of Greater Kansas City and Midwest Transplant Network.
Currently, there are more than 106,000 men, women and children on the national transplant waiting list. Seventeen people die each day waiting for an organ transplant, with 83% of them needing a kidney. Among the speakers highlighted at the Gala will be two altruistic living kidney donors, neither of which knew their recipients prior to donation.
Featured speakers include several members of our community:
- Rabbi Jonathan Rudnick, who serves as Jewish Community Chaplain at Jewish Family Services of Greater Kansas City, will give the Jewish perspective on organ donation.
- Martha Gershun of Fairway, Kansas, will share her story of becoming a living kidney donor three years ago as a result of reading an article in The Chronicle.
- Deb Porter Gill of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, formerly of Kansas City, will speak about receiving a kidney from Gershun after a previous double organ transplant.
- Ann Karty of Overland Park, Kansas, Family Medicine physician and National Hadassah Medical Organization (HMO) Vice Chair, will discuss organ donation at Hadassah hospitals in Israel.
Honorees at this year’s gala are annual givers affiliated with Hadassah Greater Kansas City. Members and associates are encouraged to become annual givers or increase their annual giving amounts.
Currently, there is a Challenge Grant available to those affiliated with the local chapter. For every new annual gift of $180 or more (Chai Society), $1000 (Keeper of the Gate) or increase of any amount by an Annual Giver, a special donor will match the amount 1:2 up to a total of $50,000.
All Annual Givers prior to November 18 in attendance will be showcased at the Gala and will receive an honoree certificate to be mailed after the event.
Attendees are requested to wear something red to celebrate the occasion and add to the excitement of the evening.
To RSVP, visit hadassahmidwest.org/GKCRedGala. For more information, contact Marian Kaplan at , 913-909-9319, or Rita Shapiro at , 816-941-9592.
