Each year, approximately 15,000 people across Canada walk to raise awareness about and fundraise for those afflicted with kidney disease. This Sunday (September 8th), it’s the Pembina Valley’s turn to don walking shoes for an afternoon of solidarity.
Jackie Groening, one of the organizers of the Pembina Valley’s 2024 Kidney Walk in Morden who has been involved for five years now, has a special connection to the event.
“I am a dialysis patient and I've been on dialysis [for] six years [this] October,” she says. “I have to go three times a week and I go for 4 1/2 hours at a time.”
Groening says that the process can be taxing.
“You do feel it afterwards,” she says. “It is tough on the body. Sometimes your blood pressure can drop, and you just don't feel good after.”
Dialysis treatments are essential to those who need them. Without the treatments, the outlook is not good.
“It’s keeping me alive,” says Groening.
One of the silver linings of regular dialysis treatments, according to Groening, is that they tend to happen in rooms full of other patients, which makes an otherwise uncomfortable and unpleasant experience a bit brighter through the community it forges.
“You really get to know your dialysis buddies,” she says.
For Groening, dialysis will be a life-long obligation unless she receives a new kidney. Fortunately, she has found a kidney match very close to home — her spouse.
“We’re meant for each other in more than one way,” she says.
The pair is currently awaiting a transplant date.
In addition to time-consuming dialysis treatments, those with kidney afflictions also have dietary restrictions that can complicate life — high sodium and high potassium foods must be avoided. The Kidney Walk is an event designed to ease these burdens of kidney disease.
“We fundraise for those who are on dialysis [and] have kidney failure,” says Groening. “We go for a walk in honour of everyone that is dealing with this.”
Groening says that last year, approximately 60 people participated in the walk in Morden and raised $10,000.
The Kidney Walk on Sunday (September 8th) begins with the ringing of the legacy bell in memory of those who have lost their lives to kidney disease, followed by speeches before the main event and light refreshments. Funds collected go to the Kidney Foundation of Canada, but what is raised in the province stays in the province. Groening sees the effect of the fundraising firsthand.
“[The funds are divided] out to us dialysis patients and those fighting kidney failure,” she says. “We get it in the form of gift cards, about $200 a year, and that can go towards gas to get to dialysis or different appointments, healthy groceries, and medications.”
For kidney disease patients who depend on life-saving dialysis treatments, every bit of support helps.
“I think [the community] should support this because it is a fantastic cause,” says Groening. “Your money does not get wasted. If you come out to the walk, you don't even have to walk if you don't want to. If you're not comfortable with that, that's okay — just come out and show your support . . . for people. It makes a difference.”
Although the walk is this weekend, anyone interested in fundraising can still sign up through the Kidney Foundation of Canada website here. For those who would like to donate directly to Groening, her participant page is here (she says she is also accepting offline donations). Each donation above $25 will receive a tax receipt.
The walk takes place on Sunday (September 8th) at Morden Park. Registration begins at 12:30 p.m., and the walk begins at 1 p.m. and ends at 4 p.m. There is no pre-registration required, so over the next few days, gather up friends and family to spend an afternoon walking for a noble cause to support people like Groening — whose vulnerability in her mission to advocate for others is something quite admirable.
~With files from Ty Hildebrand and Jayme Giesbrecht~