Who We Are

Kidneys for Kids is a Bay City, Michigan-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to saving children’s lives — and adults in Michigan — through living kidney donation awareness, education, advocacy, and direct family support. Founded in May 2022 by Brian Martindale, a living kidney donor himself, Kidneys for Kids has grown in four years from a local mission into a nationally recognized force in the organ donation movement.

We hold Candid’s Platinum Seal of Transparency — the highest level of nonprofit accountability — and in 2024 became voting members of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN), the federally authorized body that governs all organ transplants in the United States. This historic designation gives Kidneys for Kids a seat at the table in shaping national organ donation policy alongside the country’s leading transplant hospitals and organizations.

The Critical Need

The kidney transplant crisis in America is both urgent and largely invisible to the public. The numbers are staggering — and they grow more dire every day that the nation fails to act.

More than 500 of the children waiting are between ages 1 and 5. While 40% of children receive a transplant within one year of registration, more than 25% are still waiting after three years. In 2025, only 6521 living kidney donations were recorded nationwide — far short of what is possible, and far short of what is needed. And only about 400 of those are to a stranger.

Our Programs & Initiatives

The Drive to 7000 — Our 2026 National Campaign

The Drive to 7000 is the most ambitious living kidney donation campaign in American history. Launched in January 2026, the campaign aims to help motivate, support, and inspire the first-ever 7,000 living kidney donations in a single calendar year in the United States. America has never reached that milestone — our annual average has hovered between 6,000 and 6,500 for years, and in 2025 we recorded 6521.

The campaign centers on a 12,000-mile, eight-week summer journey through 33 major American cities, visiting partner transplant hospitals, hosting donor recruitment and education events, conducting television interviews with families in need of kidney donors, and creating live broadcasts on the Good Karma Entertainment Network on Roku worldwide. Every stop is being filmed as part of The Darker the Night feature documentary film and a 33-episode television series.

The Drive to 7000 has the national support of the American Nephrology Nurses Association (A.N.N.A.), with many of their state chapters actively supporting the campaign in cities across the country this summer.

Driving for Life — Five Years of Results

The Drive to 7000 is the fifth year of Brian Martindale’s Driving for Life campaign, which began in 2022. Since the first journey, the mission has:

• Inspired 18 adults to become living kidney donors to children in need.
• Covered more than 25,000 cumulative miles across America.
• Conducted television interviews in each city featuring families whose children need kidney transplants.
• Built a national network of partner transplant hospitals, kidney organizations, and advocacy groups.

The Driving for Life campaign’s initial goal was to secure 100 living kidney donors for 100 children by 2029. In 2026, that mission has expanded dramatically into the nationwide Drive to 7000.

The Darker the Night — Feature Documentary Film & TV Series

Simultaneously with the Drive to 7000 summer journey, Kidneys for Kids — in partnership with Executive Director of Film and Television Andrew Hamlet — is producing two major media properties:

The title of the film and series comes from the song The Darker the Night, the Brighter the Light — written and performed by Chaplain Ed Gilbert, whose music became the spiritual foundation of the project. It was Ed Gilbert and his wife who introduced Brian Martindale to Andrew Hamlet, forming the creative team that is now producing this historic production. The title reflects both the crisis facing families waiting for kidneys and the hope that living donation brings — the darker the night, the more powerful the light on the other side.

The Good Karma Entertainment Network

Kidneys for Kids launched the Good Karma Entertainment Network on February 3rd, 2025 as a worldwide streaming platform on Roku, currently reaching viewers in 14+ countries and all 50 states. The network broadcasts original and curated family-friendly content that highlights people and organizations making a positive impact in local communities and nationally.

The network serves as the primary live broadcast platform for the Drive to 7000 summer journey, airing live subscriber broadcasts from each city visited, featuring hospital interviews, family stories, and donor recruitment segments. Commercial advertising on the network is available to sponsors and community businesses, with commercials airing up to 8 times per day over 24 hours. The network is expanding to Amazon Firestick and Apple TV in 2026, and the Drive to 7000 series will begin airing as completed episodes following the film’s March 2027 theatrical premiere.

Healthy Minds — Healthy Bodies Program

In 2026, Kidneys for Kids launched the Healthy Minds — Healthy Bodies educational program, a holistic wellness initiative that connects kidney health with physical and mental wellbeing. Working with local and national health organizations, the program brings health education events to communities visited on the Drive to 7000 tour — emphasizing the relationship between nutrition, mental health, lifestyle choices, and kidney function.

The program includes first pitch events at minor league baseball stadiums, community health screenings, and partnerships with health-focused organizations and sponsors whose products align with kidney health and overall wellness. The program is designed to expand nationwide as the Drive to 7000 network of partner hospitals and organizations grows.

Family Financial Assistance Fund

The Kidneys for Kids Family Assistance Fund provides direct financial support to families facing the enormous out-of-pocket costs of pediatric kidney disease and transplantation — costs that insurance does not cover and that can devastate even financially stable families.

• Grants of up to $1,000 per family per year for costs related to pediatric kidney treatment.
• Coverage for essential needs during hospital stays.
• Travel assistance for families traveling to transplant centers.
• Support for non-medical costs that arise during the transplant journey.
• Available to families working with transplant hospitals nationwide.

National Advocacy & OPTN Membership

In 2024, Kidneys for Kids became voting members of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) — the federally authorized body that governs the policies and procedures for all organ transplants performed in the United States. This historic designation gives Kidneys for Kids a formal voice in shaping the national organ donation system, advocating directly for policies that expand living donation, reduce wait times for children, and improve outcomes for pediatric kidney patients.

Kidneys for Kids also holds national support from the American Nephrology Nurses Association (A.N.N.A.), with several chapters formally endorsing the Drive to 7000 campaign, and helping to support the trip. This partnership connects the organization with thousands of nephrology nurses across the country — among the most knowledgeable advocates for living kidney donation in the medical community.

Media & National Presence

The Kidneys for Kids story has been told on a growing national media platform built through years of relationship-building, compelling storytelling, and a mission that resonates with audiences across every demographic.

• Featured on Good Morning America — NYU Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital filming segment.
• National press campaign active throughout 2026, including press releases distributed to media in each of the 33 Drive to 7000 cities.
• Television interviews conducted in each city visited on the Driving for Life tour since 2022.
• Good Karma Entertainment Network live broadcasts reaching 14+ countries and all 50 states on Roku.
• Social media campaign running across all major platforms throughout the Drive to 7000 journey.
• The Darker the Night film and TV series targeting Netflix and Amazon Prime Video — confirmed with Amazon for both.
• Detroit Pistons partnership — Kidneys for Kids Night, March 25, 2026.
• Charity Dinner and Auction — Coming August 27th, 2026.

Partnerships & National Support

Kidneys for Kids has built a growing network of organizational, corporate, union, and hospital partnerships that reflect the broad coalition required to move the needle on living kidney donation at a national level.

How to Support Our Mission

There are many ways to stand with Kidneys for Kids — whether you are an individual, a family, a business, a union, a hospital, or an organization. Every form of support directly advances our mission of saving children’s lives through living kidney donation.

1. Consider Living Donation

• Learn about the donation process at kidneysforkids.org.
• Speak with your healthcare provider about eligibility.
• Contact Kidneys for Kids for guidance, resources, and connection to a transplant center near you.
• Share your donor story — your experience can inspire others to say yes.

2. Sponsor the Mission

The Drive to 7000, The Darker the Night film, and the 33-episode television series offer sponsorship partnerships at six levels — from $2,500 Community Partners to the exclusive $50,000 Title Sponsorship, with one available. Sponsorship delivers brand visibility across 33 cities, the feature film, all 33 TV episodes, and live broadcasts on Roku worldwide.

• Title Sponsor — $50,000, one available — Maximum visibility including VIP film premiere screening for employees.
• Presenting Sponsor — $25,000, two available — Naming rights across all campaign materials.
• Platinum Sponsor — $15,000.
• Diamond Sponsor — $10,000.
• Gold Sponsor — $5,000.
• Silver Sponsor — $2,500.

3. Hospital & Transplant Center Partnership

We are inviting all 33 partner hospitals on the Drive to 7000 route to participate in the film and television series — identifying patient families willing to share their story on camera, providing a transplant physician for an on-camera interview, co-hosting a donor recruitment event, and promoting our visit to their patient community. There is no financial cost to hospital partners.

4. Donate to the Family Assistance Fund

• Donate directly at kidneysforkids.org.
• Organize community fundraising events.
• Set up a workplace giving or matching donation program.
• Sponsor a specific family going through the transplant process.

5. Raise Awareness

• Follow and share Kidneys for Kids on all social media platforms.
• Share the Drive to 7000 story, the film, and the Good Karma Entertainment Network.
• Host a community screening of The Darker the Night after its March 2027 release.
• Volunteer at Drive to 7000 events in your city.
• Educate your community, workplace, or congregation about living kidney donation.

Organizational Credentials

• Founded May 2022 — Bay City, Michigan.
• 18 living kidney donors inspired and connected to children in need since founding.
• 25,000+ cumulative miles driven across America on the Driving for Life campaign.
• Candid Platinum Seal of Transparency — highest level of nonprofit accountability.
• OPTN Voting Member — helping govern all organ transplants in the United States.
• National support of A.N.N.A. — American Nephrology Nurses Association.
• Good Morning America national media feature.
• Detroit Pistons charity partnership — March 2026.
• IUPAT National Platinum Sponsor — $15,000.
• Film production underway: The Darker the Night — confirmed for Amazon Prime Video.
• 33-episode TV series in production — confirmed for Amazon Prime Video.

Our Vision

The impact of Kidneys for Kids is growing every year — and in 2026, it is growing faster than at any point in our history. The Drive to 7000, The Darker the Night, the Good Karma Entertainment Network, the Healthy Minds — Healthy Bodies program, our OPTN membership, and our expanding hospital and organizational partnerships represent a comprehensive national strategy to permanently change the trajectory of living kidney donation in America.

Our vision is simple and absolute: no child should have to die waiting for a kidney transplant. We believe that vision is achievable — because we have already seen what one person deciding to say yes can do. Eighteen times, and counting.

Through the film, the television series, the summer journey, and the national advocacy work underway in 2026, Kidneys for Kids is bringing that message to every corner of America — and to viewers in 14 countries around the world. We are asking every person who encounters our story to consider what they are willing to give.

The answer for 18 Americans so far has been: a kidney, and a life.