OR SIX DAYS IN LATE JUNE, the Colorado Convention Center turned into an Olympic-style event to host the Transplant Games of America, TGA. With its own village and competitive events scattered throughout downtown Denver, thousands of living donors, transplant recipients, and donor families gathered to raise awareness around organ donation. Colorado leads the nation in donor designation, with approximately 66% of residents registering their choice on driver’s licenses or IDs, compared to a national average of 49%. Despite these high registration rates, more than 1,300 Coloradans currently await a transplant. Multicultural communities comprise about 41% of that waiting list, with significant representation among Latino and Black/African American populations. One of the main events of the games was breaking the Guinness World Records for the most living donors and organ recipients gathered in one place at the same time. The record was broken Saturday, June 20, at the TGA Village, where 966 living donors and organ recipients were present for two hours. Beyond the record attempt, participants competed in swimming, track and field, pickleball, basketball, Youth Olympiad, and ballroom dancing. Non-athletic events included Texas Hold’em, trivia, and Lyrics for Life. However, TGA is more than the competition; for some, it showed what life is like after giving or receiving an organ. Others met their donor or donor’s family for the first time, and sponsors showed what their programs had to offer. PATIENT CARE AND UNHOUSED PATIENTS DaVita, a kidney care center, sponsored the games and also had two social workers participate in the CareDx 5K. Clinical social worker and living donor, Angela Laino, and division lead social worker and kidney recipient, Terry Weaver, stressed the importance of advocating for their patients. Both emphasized the role social workers play in navigating the complex landscape of transplant eligibility, particularly for unhoused patients. Weaver, who earned his master’s degree while undergoing dialysis, said he advocates that patients educate themselves about available resources. He noted that self-referral programs in markets like Georgia can help mitigate racial disparities by leveraging community support. “If someone is unhoused and they’re receiving renal or kidney treatment, you’ll work with your social worker,” Weaver said. “Most resources are eligibility-based … in Georgia, we have a lot of different opportunities and approaches, it can be a shelter, transitional housing, and then long-term housing.” Laino pointed out that stable housing and support systems are often prerequisites for transplant eligibility, barriers that disproportionately affect homeless individuals. “We don’t always realize we sometimes take for granted [that] we have support systems,” Laino said. “Some of our patients don’t, and it’s very important that they do have a support system because they need that, not only after the surgery, but also during the transplant process.” BIPOC RECIPIENTS AND DONORS People of color make up about 60% of the national transplant waiting list, but historically account for a lower percentage of registered donors. Organs are matched based on medical urgency, blood type, body size, and tissue compatibility, not race. However, genetic compatibility is often higher within similar ethnic groups. Nydia Gonzalez, a Denver Public Schools’ Early Childhood Education Head Start program teacher, found herself in the position of both advocate and donor after noticing that her student’s father was falling ill. Gonzalez said she started calling one of her students’ parents when the student’s attendance began to decline. A call from the mother revealed the father was sick, though details were scarce. Later, the parents called back with devastating news: the father was suffering from kidney failure. “You will never cry alone, because I’m a crier,” Gonzalez said. “Mom and Dad were both crying, and we sat down and talked.” Motivated to help, Gonzalez assisted the family in applying for emergency Medicare. But Gonzalez took it even further. She attended workshops with the National Kidney Foundation and learned about living donation. She underwent testing during spring break, packing a cooler with snacks and watching Netflix while waiting for results. When doctors cleared her to donate, she contacted her student’s dad, Norberto — whom she now considers a brother — to let him know that the last step was to find out if they were a match. Since Gonzales was older, she was not a match. Instead, Gonzalez’s kidney went to a woman in North Carolina, and Norberto’s kidney came from a man in Atlanta. All four surgeries took place on June 18, 2025. Although she did not save her student’s father directly, Gonzalez said the experience expanded her own family. Her former student’s father asked to call her mother “mom” because he now had a sister-in-law through the donation chain. “We have dinner at least once a month,” Gonzalez said. “We do things as a family.” Now recovering and active in her community, Gonzalez coaches soccer and a boys’ running team. The CareDx 5K was the fourth 5k she has run since she became a living donor. She uses her platform to encourage Latino communities to consider donation, noting that cultural hesitation can sometimes deter potential donors. “I feel that culturally Latinos are set in their ways,” Gonzalez said. “If you have an opportunity to make a difference and save a life, do it. Just get tested.” Transplant Games of America attendee writes her thoughts on whiteboard at TGA village, expressing what the transplant community means to her. 10 COMMUNITY PROFILE
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