Mitchell Pollock is a Christmas miracle. He was born prematurely -- more than three months before his due date. Mitch came into the world well ahead of schedule, but facing many serious, life-threatening complications. One month after birth, he developed blood clots in his kidneys and they stopped functioning. He was rushed to the Penn State Milton Hershey Medical Center where a team of doctors and nurses feverishly worked to keep him alive. "Mitchell was not near death; he was actually in the process of dying," Dr. Steven Wassner explained.
Their heroic efforts worked. Mitchell survived. What followed, however, were more than two years of stringent adherence to a medical routine; Mitchell had to be fed and medicated every day through a tube and then undergo 11 hours of nightly dialysis. What he desperately needed was a healthy, compatible kidney to free him and his parents from the tribulations of his treatment.
The doctors found the perfect donor in Mitch's mom. Jenn Pollock decided to donate one of her kidneys and underwent the organ-transplant surgery last December 15th. Doctors successfully transplanted her kidney into Mitchell, and today, he is a happy, healthy three-year-old. Jenn and her husband, Doug, will share their story with us. Gail Frankle, transplant program manager at the Penn State Hershey Medical Center, and Dwendy Johnson, coordinator of community relations for the Gift of Life Donor Program at Hershey Med Center, also will appear and explain the process of organ donation and the importance of designating yourself as an organ donor and letting your loved ones know if you wish to donate your tissues and organs to save or enhance someone else's life.
"People can end up receiving life-saving kidney transplants - all due to the generosity of a single individual coming forward and wanting to help someone in need," Dwendy explains in an email. "So it's not only about donating your organs in case you should die. It's also about being aware and helping now." Nationally, more than 110,00 people are awaiting a life-saving organ transplant. In Pennsylvania, the number is more than 8,000, and 6,000 of them alone need a viable kidney. It's simple to register as an organ donor. You can sign up when you register your car or get your driver's license. Or you can do so at www.donors1.org.
In our second half hour, we'll check in with WITF's Real Life/Real Issues series. This month, Smart Talk producer Mark Wallace profiles several mid-state families experiencing a hard time at the holidays. He visits the Salvation Army to learn how the loose change and spare bills you drop into those ubiquitous red buckets really do buy necessities for our neighbors in need. Over the last two years, demand for services from the Salvation Army has risen 70 percent.
We'll also discuss more ways you can help with our in-studio guests, including Tim Whelan, vice president of community impact at the United Way of the Capital Region, Joe Arthur, associate director of the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, and Chuck Wingate, executive director of the Bethesda Mission. Joe Arthur notes that with unemployment holding steady above 8% across Pennsylvania and even higher in urban pockets, the need for nutritious food for many families remains high.
"In 2009, we served almost 250,000 different individuals, many of them on multiple occasions. That number will easily reach 275,000 for 2010. These levels are 60% or more above the levels we experienced before the recession, and these trends are consistent across our territory - rural, urban, even suburban," Arthur writes in an email. He adds, "The Faces of Hunger have been changing in recent years and the recession has exacerbated this trend. Many more families are visiting pantries and soup kitchens, many for the first time in their lives. A year or two ago, these same folks might have been donating food...now after a job loss or cuts in hours and benefits, they need help. Some surprising statistics that challenge conventional thinking: less that 4% of our clients are homeless; children represent over one-third of our clients; rural and suburban clients combined comprise about two-thirds of our clients."
Chuck Wingate writes that giving is down slightly this year but demand for shelter and food is at an all-time high at Bethesda Mission. With zero government dollars, the Mission depends entirely on about 14,000 donors and a corps of volunteers. "The reasons for increased homelessness are the economy, increased drug abuse, increased incidences of chronic mental illnesses, the damaged state of the American family and veterans - 1 in 4 homeless men is a veteran of the U.S. military, and that figure is increasing," Wingate explains.
Bethesda Mission has stepped up its fundraising by forming partnerships and tradeouts with local businesses like Sun Motor Cars, Arcus and KNO Clothing. "We tout the fact that our fundraising and adminexpenses were 11.2% last year," Wingates notes. "The cost of doing business keeps increasing. The new health care law has already increased our costs by $12k/year and utility bills in winter exceed $15k/month." Still Wingate vows, "We plan to deliver more services next year with the same resources. We do NOT plan to cut any programs in 2011."
There are so many reasons and so many ways to ease the hardships in our communities. Please join us Thursday night at 8 for Smart Talk and learn how you can make a difference in the lives of your neighbors. I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year!
