mission and vision

To Save One Life: Mobilizing America's faith communities to end the kidney shortage.

Nearly 95,000 Americans need a kidney transplant. Twelve people die every day waiting for one, painfully languishing on years-long waiting lists. Nearly one million people are treated for end-stage kidney disease, and half a million people endure dialysis daily, costing U.S. taxpayers $90 billion a year.


Through living kidney donation, this is one of the most solvable crises in American medicine.

There are more than 356,000 congregations in the United States.

Too few people know about paired kidney exchange or kidney swaps.

If just one healthy person in each congregation stepped forward as a willing living donor in only one-third of these congregations, the kidney shortage would end. Not someday. Today.

“There is no greater power for good in the world than the power of congregations.”

— Pastor Rick Warren

“Where will we find people with the heart to give a kidney? Congregations!”

— Ron Wolfson, To Save One Life

Most Americans have never heard of the breakthrough that makes solving the kidney shortage possible.

It’s called a kidney “swap,” or a kidney paired donation. If you know someone — a family member, a friend, a fellow congregant — who needs a kidney, you can still save their life, even if you are not a match!

You donate your kidney to someone who matches you, and your loved one or friend gets a kidney that matches them from someone else. Sometimes pairs or swaps can be created among families that have both a kidney patient in need of a transplant and a willing donor. 

Amazing, right?

Two of the TSOL campaign's founders learned this firsthand when they were told they were not a match for their spouses. Ron Wolfson donated on behalf of his wife, Susie, and Linda Pachino donated on behalf of her husband, Bart. When they told people about “kidney swaps,” they discovered how little awareness of this option exists, even among well-informed people, even in the medical community.

You can save more than “one” life. 

You may not know of someone who needs a kidney, but still want to come forward to donate your “spare.” This is called a “non-directed” (or “Good Samaritan”) donation since it is not on behalf of a designated recipient. One act of generosity becomes a lifesaving solution. Sometimes your donation triggers multiple transplants that save more than one life; it begins a “chain” that helps save the lives of multiple people!

The kidney shortage is an education problem, not a medical problem.

The science works. The infrastructure exists. What is missing is awareness that:

  • Preemptive transplantation before dialysis provides the best outcomes for kidney patients.

  • Living donor kidneys work faster, better, and longer than deceased donor organs.

  • The power of paired kidney swaps means patients do not need a match, they just need a donor. We believe faith communities are uniquely suited to expand this awareness.

    Congregations are built on trust. Every major tradition teaches the immeasurable worth of every person. The teaching that gives this campaign its name — that to save one life is to save a world — appears across faiths. We believe in the opportunity for faith communities to be a driving force in reaching an achievable solution to this problem. 

The Kidney Crisis

A solvable problem with a solution hiding in plain sighT.

12

People who die every day waiting for one.

95,000

Americans who need a kidney transplant.

~6,500

Living kidney donors per year, roughly unchanged since 2007.

500,000

Patients on dialysis costing Medicare American taxpayers billions of dollars a year.

Living donor transplants last longer and produce better outcomes than deceased donor transplants.

Kidney donation surgery is also remarkably safe, safer than appendix surgery.
Donors can live full, healthy lives with one kidney. If a donor ever needs a transplant themselves, they are given priority on the deceased donor organ waiting list. Some national kidney donation organizations and transplant centers offer living kidney donors a voucher for a living donor kidney should they or their family members ever need one.

Living donation can save more lives.

Kidney swaps make more donations possible.

Traditional living donation required a direct tissue-type match between donor and recipient. That single requirement rejected countless willing donors.

Paired kidney swaps remove that barrier. Anyone healthy enough to be a donor can donate to someone who matches them and your intended recipient will get a kidney that is a compatible match from someone else.

With non-directed donations, one donation often triggers a chain — three, five, ten transplants can be made possible by a single act of generosity.

Ending the crisis is arithmetic, not aspirational.

On average, 95,000 people need a kidney every year. There are more than 356,000 congregations in the United States. If just one third found one willing donor, the waiting list would not just shrink. It would end.

Team & Partners

People who have lived this mission.

Founders

  • Ron Wolfson, PhD

    Co-Founder

    Ron is a living kidney donor (at age 70!) on behalf of his wife of over 56 years, Susie Kukawka Wolfson. Co-author of To Save One Life: The Miracle of Living Kidney Donation, Transplantation, and How You Can Make It Happen, written with Dr. Mikel Prieto, eminent transplant surgeon, tells Susie’s transplant story and raises awareness of paired kidney donations. He lives in Los Angeles and eats frozen yogurt just about every day.

  • Susie Wolfson

    Co-Founder

    Susie is the recipient of a living kidney donation (at age 70!) from a compatible stranger, made possible by Ron’s willingness to donate his “spare” to a stranger who matched him. She is an early childhood teacher, author, and creative family educator who dotes on her two grandchildren, Ellie and Gabe.

  • Bart Pachino

    Co-Founder

    Barton Pachino is a polycystic kidney disease patient who received a living kidney transplant when his wife Linda donated her kidney to a stranger in a paired kidney swap.

  • Dr. Mikel Prieto

     Co-Founder

    Dr. Prieto is the surgical director of the Pediatric Kidney and the Adult Pancreas Transplant program at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He is the co-author of  To Save One Life: The Miracle of Living Kidney Donation, Transplantation, and How You Can Make It Happen, with campaign founder Ron Wolfson. 

Board of Directors

  • Ron Wolfson, PhD

    President and Co-Founder

    Ron is a living kidney donor (at age 70!) on behalf of his wife of over 56 years, Susie Kukawka Wolfson. Co-author of To Save One Life: The Miracle of Living Kidney Donation, Transplantation, and How You Can Make It Happen, written with Dr. Mikel Prieto, eminent transplant surgeon, tells Susie’s transplant story and raises awareness of paired kidney donations. He lives in Los Angeles and eats frozen yogurt just about every day.

  • BERYL WEINER, ESQ

    Secretary/Treasurer

    Beryl Weiner, Esq, serves as the Secretary/Treasurer of the To Save One Life Foundation. A prominent attorney in Los Angeles, California, he is a community activist and expert in health care management.

  • MARK SPIEGLER, ESQ

    Member

    Mark Spiegler, Esq, serves as a member of the To Save One Life Foundation. He is an expert in tax issues for nonprofit organizations based in San Diego, California.

  • Bart Pachino

    Co-Founder

    Bart Pachino is a polycystic kidney disease patient who received a living kidney transplant when his wife Linda donated her kidney to a stranger in a paired kidney swap.

  • Dr. Mikel Prieto

     Co-Founder

    Dr. Prieto is the surgical director of the Pediatric Kidney and the Adult Pancreas Transplant program at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He is the co-author of  To Save One Life: The Miracle of Living Kidney Donation, Transplantation, and How You Can Make It Happen, with campaign founder Ron Wolfson. 

  • REVEREND DR. JEFFREY BARKER

    Member

    Reverend Jeffrey Barker is District Superintendent of the New York Metro District Church of the Nazarene, serving 100 churches. In 2024, Reverand Jeff donated his kidney to a friend, commenting “I am a person of faith, and I felt God’s spirit call me to make myself available.” He has competed in eight marathons and other road races.

  • ANDI GOLDSTEIN

    Member

    Andi Goldstein is a community leader in Omaha, Nebraska, with special interests in social justice and civic engagement.

  • DON GOLDSTEIN

    Member

    Don Goldstein continues the legacy of his parents Shirley and Leonard Goldstein of Omaha, Nebraska, focusing on supporting education and leadership development. 

  • ANN LEVINE

    Member

    Ann Levine is a philanthropist with interests in education and communal excellence.  Ann lives in Dallas, Texas.

  • Nate Levine

    Member

    Nate Levine built pioneering businesses in the early days of the cable television revolution. His philanthropic focus is supporting the Dallas, Texas, community and education.

  • Reverend RICHARD VOSKO, PHD, HON. AIA

    Member

    Reverend Richard “Dick” Vosko, PhD., Hon. AIA, is a Roman Catholic priest from the Diocese of Albany, New York, and a world-renowned expert in liturgical design having consulted with hundreds of houses of worship throughout the world. He serves as a volunteer prison ministry in area correctional facilities.

  •  Dr. Burton A. Liebross

    Member 

    Dr. Burton A. Liebross, MD is an internal medicine and nephrology specialist in Tarzana, California, with over 50 years of medical experience. He earned his medical degree from the Rosalind Franklin University Chicago Medical School in 1975 and is affiliated withCedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Medical Partners

To Save One Life does not facilitate medical procedures. We educate and activate, then direct those who are interested into the established kidney transplant medical system. Among our medical partners are:

Faith Leadership

A growing TSOL Clergy Advisory Team and network of clergy, theologians, and lay leaders across many faith traditions who have  endorsed the campaign and committed to bringing it to their communities. Additional partners will be added as the campaign grows.

  • Imam Johari Abdul-Malik

    A prominent American Islamic scholar and activist, Imam Johari served as Director of Outreach at the Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center in Virginia. A former chaplain at Howard University, he is widely recognized for his advocacy in interfaith bridge-building, social justice, and civil rights.

  • Reverend Dr. Jeffrey Barker

    Rev. Barker is an ordained minister in the Church of the Nazarene who serves as the District Superintendent for the Metro New York District Church of the Nazarene where he oversees and coaches Nazarene churches and pastoral transitions across the Metro New York region. He has served in various ministry roles since 1976, including senior and staff pastorates in Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas.In addition to his pastoral leadership, Dr. Barker is a speaker, leadership coach, and clinically licensed marriage and family therapist with over three decades of private practice experience.

  • Rabbi Sharon Brous

    Founding and senior rabbi of IKAR, a Jewish spiritual community in Los Angeles, Sharon Brous focuses on blending spiritual practice with social justice. Author of The Amen Effect, she is a prominent voice in national interfaith activism and has led prayers for multiple presidential inauguration events.

  • Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove

    Senior Rabbi of Park Avenue Synagogue in New York City, Elliot Cosgrove is a leader within Conservative Judaism. Holding a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, he sits on the board of the Council on Foreign Relations and frequently contributes to national dialogues on Jewish theology and interfaith relations.

  • Pastor Steve Gladen

    Serving as the Pastor of Small Groups at Saddleback Church since 1998, Steve Gladen is an authority on church group strategies and disciple-making. He founded the Small Group Network to equip church leaders globally and has authored several books on community-building within congregations.

  • Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati

    A Stanford-educated psychologist turned Hindu spiritual leader, Sadhviji is the International Director of Parmarth Niketan Ashram in Rishikesh, India. She serves as Secretary-General of the Global Interfaith WASH Alliance and leads international humanitarian initiatives centered on water, sanitation, and women's empowerment.

  • Reverend Richard Vosko, PHd., Hon. AIA

    A Roman Catholic priest of the Diocese of Albany and a renowned liturgical design consultant, Reverend Richard Vosko, PHd., Hon. AIA, has overseen the creation and renovation of dozens of prominent Catholic cathedrals and churches across North America. His work centers on aligning physical sacred spaces with modern worship.

  • Pastor Rick Warren

    Founder of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, Rick Warren is a leading evangelical pastor and bestselling author of The Purpose-Driven Life. Known for building the Purpose Driven Network and launching the global PEACE Plan mission initiative, he has long mobilized Christian congregations around global health, poverty relief, and public service.

  • Rabbi David Wolpe

    Rabbi Emeritus of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles and a Senior Advisor to the Maimonides Fund, David Wolpe is an influential Jewish scholar, speaker, and author of eight books, including Making Loss Matter. He has taught at institutions including Harvard Divinity School and UCLA.