The Living Door Bank Finds Donors Since its launch in January, The Living Donor Bank has received 22 inquiries from potential living kidney donors. The program is working with four transplant centers to determine which volunteers are suitable donor candidates. The transplants centers also are referring kidney patients to The Living Donor Bank to assist them in locating a living donor. Transplant centers partners include: Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center, The Methodist Hospital, St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital and Texas Children’s Hospital. The number of people on the national waiting list in need of organs has soared to 101,000 and 80,000 of those are waiting for kidneys. The Living Donor Bank project will address the need for kidney donors as follows: Coordinate, counsel and motivate kidney patients on the waiting list to find a donor. Encourage living donations of kidneys. Coordinate and counsel potential living donors. Facilitate successful "paired donations" or kidney exchanges to find a match for multiple patients. Support donors and recipients before and after surgery. Provide financial support to families involved in the transplant process. If you would like to do the ultimate good deed and assist someone who will die without a new kidney, e-mail cshapley@livingbank.org or call us at 1-800-528-2971          Foundations Support The Living Donor Bank  The Living Donor Bank wishes to thank the four foundations that have provided  funding for this project to date. Additional support is needed to fully fund the first   year of these critical services. Supporters include:  Bill and Helen Crowder Foundation  Ray C. Fish Foundation  T.L.L. Temple Foundation  Healthcare and Nursing Education Foundation   The Living Donor Bank wishes to thank the four foundations that have provided   funding for thisproject to date. Additional funding is pending. In the first year of  the program, the goal is to find donors for 50 patients on the kidney waiting list   atthe five transplant centers in Houston.                                         Stipends Available Now                     Travel, Lodging and Subsistence for Organ Recipients       The Living Bank (TLB) has established a fund to provide travel, lodging and/or       subsistence stipends up to $1,000 to organ recipients and their families and to      living donors and recipients who must travel to the Texas Medical Center for      transplant surgery.         Click here for guidelines, or for an application for reimbursement, Click here                                      National Critical Data                                          as of April 2009 Kidney              84,476  Kidney/Pancreas   2,329  Heart/Lung              86 Liver                 16,522  Heart                      2,792  Intestine                216 Pancreas            1,544  Lung                       1,964  All Organs       109,929                                           FOR STATE STATISTICS CLICK HERE Tree of Life Program The Living Bank is establishing a program to enhance the environment, honor organ donors and recognize their families. The Tree of Life Program will plant a tree to celebrate the selfless donation of the greatest gift— the gift of life.   We are seeking donor families to help us to identify honorees. The Living Bank will provide the tree and facilitate the planting in a place of the family's selection, such as a park or other community site.   Contact:  mspell@livingbank.org  for information or to arrange for a Tree of Life.