Thank you for being here, and thank you for any contribution. No amount is too small! Your support means the absolute world to me!

I’m thrilled to be participating in One Kidney Climb Kilimanjaro 2026, a fundraiser supporting Kidney Donor Athletes, Inc.!

In March 2026, myself and a group of 15 other kidney donors will climb Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa, trekking to nearly 20,000 feet of elevation over the course of eight days. We will summit on March 12, 2026, which is World Kidney Day!  

I donated my left kidney to my stepdad Dave on May 24th, 2023, after he battled CKD for the better part of a decade. Despite not being blood relatives, we turned out to be a perfect match! Donating to my stepdad was a no brainer for me, and I had said for years I'd be first in line when it came time for him to need a transplant. After surgery, I got to spend six weeks in my hometown of Charlotte, NC recovering, cherishing that unexpected stretch of family time. Now, more than two and a half years later (!!!), both me and Dave are thriving! He’s enjoying retirement with my mom and his new kidney, and I haven't slowed down with my world travels or active lifestyle.

Outside of donation, I'm a new competitor in the Kidney Donor Games, an avid volunteer at the Red Cross, a weightlifting enthusiast, and a marathon runner (with my first race finished last summer!). I live in St. Louis, Missouri with my one-eyed cat Norah and love hosting gatherings with my friends. 

For me, climbing Kilimanjaro with other Kidney Donor Athletes is about more than the summit. It’s about showing that organ donation doesn’t limit your life, and can actually make you even stronger. Currently, there are over 100,000 people on the waiting list in the United States in need of a kidney. With an average wait time of three to five years for a transplant, 17 of them die every day. Increasing the number of living donations would significantly reduce the number of unnecessary deaths from kidney failure, as kidneys from living donors last, on average, 50% longer than those from deceased donors.

I'm so excited to take on this challenge and to build lasting connections with fellow kidney donors who continue to redefine what’s possible, and cross off one of my top bucket list items! Thank you all so much for your support!