There is some exciting stuff happening in my corner of the Transplant World!  I just joined the Maitri River Productions team to produce a documentary series about living kidney donation.  It’s called Abundant.

Abundant shines a light on the growing movement to eliminate America’s 100,000 kidney deficit through living kidney donation.  Every year, roughly 8,000 Americans die waiting on a kidney donation that never arrives.  The leading experts agree the only solution to the American kidney deficit is an increase in kidney donation by living donors.  Abundant explores what it will take for America to face this problem from a space of abundance rather than scarcity.

My first order of business is a fun one, and that is to recruit non-directed living donors to contribute to our project.  There are 2 ways to do this.

First, we are looking for as many non-directed donors as possible to participate in a series of surveys to help us understand the commonalities and sociological trends of extreme altruists. This could very well end up being one of the largest studies ever done on non-directed donors, as there have been very few studies done on NDDs.  While I really look forward to seeing the findings, I think I am more excited about creating a non-directed donor community!

Second, we are looking for non-directed donors interested in participating in our storytelling show.  Ten storytellers will be chosen to present their approximately 12-minute story in a format much like a TED talk.  These donors will have a unique opportunity to work with a professional story editor, producer and director to help them make the most out of their story and performance.  The show will have a live audience and streaming audience- it will be an unforgettable experience for all who participate and listen!  To audition, read more here.

Directed donors, and transplant patients, we have opportunities for you too and want to hear from you!  Please see our website to learn more, or email me at laurie@transplantvilage.org. 

The mere fact that I have the opportunity to work on a project of this size and scope is abundance in itself.  I can’t think of a more artistic and exciting way to be a part of growing this movement that is so near and dear to my heart.  I will be learning so much from this! My mission is to shift the “organ shortage crisis” paradigm; in my view, people can see the same problem from a space of abundance and recognize that we actually have an organ surplus.  It feels pretty amazing to have the opportunity to communicate this message professionally to a much larger audience than I would have otherwise had access to.  I am very grateful for this opportunity and will be updating my blog more frequently with progress!