Each year at HelpHOPELive’s annual fundraising event, HelpHOPE-Live It Up!, we honor community heroes who prove why our mission matters with the Help, HOPE and Live awards. In 2015, we’re also giving out an Advocacy and Volunteer of the Year award.
This year, the HOPE award will go to KYW’s Jim Melwert for his selfless gift of life through living kidney donation.
We honor Jim Melwert for giving the gift of life.
In 2006, Jean DelMuto was struggling with the painful effects of polycystic kidney disease. Facing at least a 5-year wait for a kidney transplant, Jean’s health deteriorated so rapidly that her manager established an in-office cotthat she could use for the naps she needed to take just to make it through each workday. As Jean was entering some of the most challenging health circumstances of her life, her nephew Jim, made her a stunning offer: the gift of life.
Jean’s nephew, Jim Melwert, is the Suburban Bureau chief for KYW Newsradio 1060. When he heard about his aunt’s struggles to secure the transplant she so desperately needed, Jim made the selfless decision to donate one of his kidneys to save her life. He made the life-changing donation on February 27, 2006, a date that he and his aunt will never forget.
For many, a transplant represents a “second chance” that can inspire recipients to make commitments to maintain their health and make the most of their future. Jim turned his gift to Jean into his own “second chance”: he began giving serious consideration to his own health, making a decision to start training for and participating in a series of impressive athletic challenges. Since giving a kidney to his aunt in February 2006, Jim has participated in competitions including Ironman events, the Transplant Games, 5k swims and Donor Dashes to honor other organ donors and recipients.
In 2013, Jim delivered a powerful address as the keynote speaker for the Gift of Life Donor Program’s Living Donor Recognition Ceremony. “As a reporter, our personal experience helps shape who we are and how we see the world,” said Jim. “Being a living kidney donor, I see the triumph of the human spirit, science and the human body. Every single donor [has] the courage, the love and the desire to make a difference. There are no words to explain how it feels to see the difference we’ve made.”
On October 16, 2015, HelpHOPELive will honor Jim Melwert for giving the gift of life with our signature HOPE award. Join us to celebrate the power of transplantation, selfless giving and second chances.
Each year at HelpHOPELive’s annual fundraising event, HelpHOPE-Live It Up!, we honor community heroes who prove why our mission matters with the Help, HOPE and Live awards. In 2015, we’re also giving out an Advocacy and Volunteer of the Year award.
This year, the HOPE award will go to KYW’s Jim Melwert for his selfless gift of life through living kidney donation.
In 2006, Jean DelMuto was struggling with the painful effects of polycystic kidney disease. Facing at least a 5-year wait for a kidney transplant, Jean’s health deteriorated so rapidly that her manager established an in-office cotthat she could use for the naps she needed to take just to make it through each workday. As Jean was entering some of the most challenging health circumstances of her life, her nephew Jim, made her a stunning offer: the gift of life.
Jean’s nephew, Jim Melwert, is the Suburban Bureau chief for KYW Newsradio 1060. When he heard about his aunt’s struggles to secure the transplant she so desperately needed, Jim made the selfless decision to donate one of his kidneys to save her life. He made the life-changing donation on February 27, 2006, a date that he and his aunt will never forget.
For many, a transplant represents a “second chance” that can inspire recipients to make commitments to maintain their health and make the most of their future. Jim turned his gift to Jean into his own “second chance”: he began giving serious consideration to his own health, making a decision to start training for and participating in a series of impressive athletic challenges. Since giving a kidney to his aunt in February 2006, Jim has participated in competitions including Ironman events, the Transplant Games, 5k swims and Donor Dashes to honor other organ donors and recipients.
In 2013, Jim delivered a powerful address as the keynote speaker for the Gift of Life Donor Program’s Living Donor Recognition Ceremony. “As a reporter, our personal experience helps shape who we are and how we see the world,” said Jim. “Being a living kidney donor, I see the triumph of the human spirit, science and the human body. Every single donor [has] the courage, the love and the desire to make a difference. There are no words to explain how it feels to see the difference we’ve made.”
On October 16, 2015, HelpHOPELive will honor Jim Melwert for giving the gift of life with our signature HOPE award. Join us to celebrate the power of transplantation, selfless giving and second chances.
