Washington Informer

“Gloria Brooks, who organized the golf tournament, had a vision to bring our counties together to support the critical work of the Kidney Foundation, and with the hope of saving lives,” Johnson said.

Brooks, who donated one of her kidneys to her brother who needed a transplant, is reaching out through the tournament to help Etienne Cromer, who is a friend of Johnson, and radio personality Olivia Fox, who met during dialysis treatment.

“The tournament is a tribute to my brother. The common thread that Etienne and Olivia and I share is the rare O-positive blood that makes it harder to find a donor,” Brooks said.

According to the American Association of Kidney Patients, O-positive patients can only receive a kidney from an O-positive donor, while recipients with A, B or AB blood types can receive a kidney from donors with matching blood types, as well as those with type O-blood.

“I was lucky because I could give my brother a kidney. I wanted to do this because the community needs to be informed about the disease itself. Sometimes, like my brother, people don’t even know they have kidney disease, particularly in the minority community,” Brooks said.

“We have a lot of hypertension, high blood pressure, and diabetes, which are the main causes of kidney disease. I wanted people to be much more aware of the disease, how you get it, how to be screened for it; and I want folk to understand it’s okay to be a living donor. You only need one kidney to live; you don’t need two.”

Sharon Taylor, communications spokesperson for Prince George’s County, said “It would give the county a great opportunity to focus on health issues that so effect our county in terms of the illnesses that lead to kidney disease, like hypertension and diabetes. We see this as a way of helping people to connect the dots, from prevention on one hand, to getting screened for kidney disease, and finally organ donation, which is a life changing and life saving issue.”

For more information on the Tri-County Golf Classic visit www.thepeopleschoicellc.com.
Larry Saxton can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .