NKF-MD Honors Pikesville Volunteer

The National Kidney Foundation of Maryland (NKF-MD) recently held its annual Volunteer Awards Reception at The Baltimore Museum of Industry.

Sponsored by Mid-Atlantic Nephrology Associates, the Living Legacy Foundation of Maryland and Johns Hopkins Medicine Comprehensive Transplant Center, the event recognized individuals and organizations for their time and hard work on behalf of the Foundation.

“Our volunteers truly are the lifeline of this lifesaving organization,” said Cassie Shafer, NKF-MD’s president and CEO. “We thank them for all their time and hard work in helping us in our fight against kidney disease, which remains #9 in the top 10 causes of death.”

With WJZ-TV’s Ron Matz as emcee, NKF-MD presented 25 awards, including the Santé Committee All-Star Award to Caryn Sagal of Pikesville.

According to NKF-MD:

“Caryn Sagal has been incredibly generous with her time, talent and energy. Because of her efforts, Baltimore knows more about the NKF, who we are and what we do. By day, she promotes our events, programs and services as senior vice president of Lawrence Howard & Associates. In the evening hours, she volunteers those services on several of our event committees.

One of those committees near and dear to her heart and kidneys is the Santé: A Culinary Odyssey food and wine tasting event, where she served as a volunteer member of the planning committee. Not only did she secure tons of fabulous media coverage, recruit some mouth savoring restaurants and great auction items, she also recruited numerous new, exceptional volunteers who did the same for Santé planning committee. This was one of the significant factors in the growth of this event.”  

In addition to honoring the volunteers, the reception celebrated NFK-MD’s many accomplishments throughout the year, such as:

•  KEY: Kidneys, Evaluate Yours free community health screenings reached more than 750 people, identifying at least 24 percent of these individuals with a possible risk factor for kidney disease.

• The Kidney Health Risk Assessment (KHRA) reached more than 300 people with information and awareness about kidney disease. 

•  Educational talks continued to touch a real need in several new areas of the state, including inner-city Baltimore.

•  NKF-MD is on target to raise more than $1 million through special events, the CAR donation program and other revenue sources.

•  The Foundation continued to fund $200,000 to valuable life-saving research in Maryland, which is more funding towards research than any other NKF division or affiliate in the country! 

• NKF-MD’s patient emergency assistance program funded over $165,000 to meet the emergency needs of dialysis patients and transplant recipients, whose lives have been dramatically altered by kidney disease. 

• The Foundation spent $12,000 on medical alert jewelry for patients.

Serving central and western Maryland, the Delmarva Peninsula and portions of West Virginia, the National Kidney Foundation of Maryland is the area’s only voluntary health agency dedicated to the prevention, treatment and cure of kidney and urinary tract diseases. For more information, visit www.kidneymd.org.