The Malibu Rotary Club hosted Harold Mintz, communications director for Shady Acres Entertainment, at its meeting last week. Mintz shared at the meeting about his experience voluntarily having his left kidney removed in 2000 at Georgetown University Hospital so that it could be given to a stranger he had never met. Three months after the surgery, the recipient expressed desire to meet Mintz, so the two did. The woman thanked Mintz for changing her life, as she had been waiting for a transplant for 20 years.
He followed up the story by explaining the function of the kidney (to filter blood) and the moments that led up to his decision to do make the donation. Mintz attributes his decision to his father’s passing due to cancer. In honor of Organ Donor Month (April), Mintz encouraged people to donate.