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Founded in 2004,
MatchingDonors is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization supported
by memberships,advertisements and donations.
Mission Statement:
MatchingDonors.com is a web site created to give people in
need of transplant surgery an active way to search for a
live organ donor. Our goal is to increase the number of
transplant surgeries and improve awareness of live organ
donation. The most common organs transplanted from a live
donor are single kidney and liver lobes.
MatchingDonors.com
was co-founded in 2004 by Mr. Paul Dooley and Dr. Jeremiah
Lowney. Mr. Dooley from Canton, MA met with his Internist,
Dr. Lowney from Boston, MA. and related a story about his
father who was told that although he was very ill from
cancer and was told he would be in need of a new kidney soon
he would not be placed on the national transplantation
waiting list. The reason was because the list was so long
that by the time a kidney would become available Mr.
Dooley’s father would not still be alive. Obviously this was
troubling. Mr. Dooley also the founder an award winning
Internet jobboard called CollegeJobBoard.com. He asked Dr.
Lowney if a web site matching potential live organ donors to
people in need of organ transplant would help the problem of
organ shortage. Both men decided to research the issue and
found a National Kidney Foundation survey of 1,000 people,
which were asked if they would consider live organ donation
to a complete stranger. To their surprise, 25% said they
would consider the donation. The co-founders then got to
work to create the web site.
The problem: In 1993
there were 31,000 people on the national organ transplant
waiting list. In 2005 there are 90,000 people. There are
approximately 17 people a day dying while waiting on the
list. Although live organ donation has been performed
successfully since 1954 there are only six to seven thousand
live organ donations per year. Most of the transplanted
organs at this time are from cadavers, which become
available at a minutes notice to the potential recipient.
The newly harvested organ is distributed through United
Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) who maintains the national
waiting list under contract from the federal government.
UNOS also attempts to increase organ donation awareness.
Unfortunately, organ donation has been stagnant over the
years and there is a severe shortage of available cadaver
organs.
One answer: With our
growing list of potential live organ donors signing on to
MatchingDonors.com it is becoming increasingly clear that
there are thousands of wonderful, altruistic and
compassionate people willing to help a fellow human being.
It is our belief that many of the potential donors would
have never considered live organ donation if it wasn’t for
the increased awareness due to our site. MatchingDonors.com
augments the current failing system by allowing people in
need of organ transplantation the ability to search for
potential altruistic live organ donors over the World Wide
Web. A potential recipient places his or her profile on the
web site and can then review email of potential donors
interested in helping. The profile can consist of any
information the patient feels comfortable sharing with
viewers. Typically the profile states the patient’s personal
history, current situation, blood type and whether they can
travel. It is up to the patient to provide their profile and
the staff at MatchingDonors.com can assist them if they
wish. Once a patient is contacted they may ask the potential
donor to contact the transplant hospital coordinated in
charge of the patients care. A test kit can then be provided
to the potential donor for blood sampling at their local
lab. This begins the process of finding a match. The
patient’s insurance provider pays for all the pre-operative
testing. MatchingDonors.com can also send press releases to
organizations and newsletters, which patients may request.
MatchingDonors.com suggests a patient fee to place their
profile on the web site. The fee is waived if the patients
are unable to afford the cost. |