NKF Kidney Walk a Huge Success!

The NKF Kidney Walk was a huge success! We raised over $45,000 towards helping people with kidney disease. More than 500 people braved the cold morning and came out to run, walk, and roll the 5K route through downtown Portland.

Teams gathered in brightly-colored green, yellow, and orange shirts in honor of family members and friends. Some teams even had doggie mascots, complete with a team shirt! The sun finally came out and shone on a colorful parade as everyone left Pioneer Courthouse Square at the start of the walk.

Thanks to everyone who helped and participated! You're amazing!

To start the event on a lively note, the band "Bad Actors" played upbeat music. Check out the guy with the towel over his shoulder, playing a green guitar. That's Troyce, an active member and officer of the Portland Kidney Group. Did you know he's on hemodialysis? Livin' his dream like all of us.

If you were there, did you stop by our table? We had lots of flyers to give away advertising the Portland Kidney Group. We also gave away newsletters, CDs of KidneyTalk, and lots of other great resources from the Renal Support Network, a non-profit organization that provides support and education for people affected by kidney disease (www.rsnhope.org).

A few smiling volunteers from the Portland Kidney Group talked to the many people that stopped by the table. Of course, we invited everyone to come to our monthly meetings!

We hope you'll come to our next meeting to see what we're all talking about so enthusiastically! You'll meet some wonderful people and learn a lot. You'll also have an opportunity to share your burdens and your hopes and receive encouragement and wisdom from people who've been where you are.

Check our schedule (see sidebar) to see when the next meeting is in your area. See you there!