Robert I. Schattner Foundation increases support for American Kidney Fund's programs in D.C. region

ROCKVILLE, Md. (Feb. 12, 2020) — The American Kidney Fund (AKF) has received a $170,000 grant from Rockville-based Robert I. Schattner Foundation to improve the health and well-being of kidney patients and populations at-risk for kidney disease in the District of Columbia, Virginia and Maryland. After supporting AKF with a generous gift in 2019, the foundation has increased its support in 2020, providing a grant that will help fund three AKF programs this year:

• The AKF Summer Enrichment Program, which provides financial support to help children and teens with kidney disease attend specialty camps that offer all the fun of traditional camps and are also equipped with the facilities and staff needed to handle the unique medical needs of kidney patients. The Foundation's 2020 grant will again support AKF's collaboration with Johns Hopkins Children's Center in Baltimore on Camp All-Stars, which hosted 45 children and teens living with kidney disease at an overnight camp.
• The AKF Safety Net Program, which provides grants to low-income dialysis and transplant patients to help pay for treatment-related costs that are not covered by health insurance, such as transportation to and from dialysis, prescription copays, over-the-counter medications, nutritional supplements, etc.
• AKF's Know Your Kidneys™ program in Washington, D.C., which provides comprehensive health outreach, screenings and education program for those who are medically uninsured, underinsured and at risk for kidney disease. Through this program, AKF hosts free screening events around Washington, empowering those at risk for kidney disease to prevent the disease or slow its progression to kidney failure.

"Last year, the Robert I. Schattner Foundation's generous gift to the American Kidney Fund changed lives in the Washington metro area by helping ease the financial and emotional burden of children and adults living with kidney disease, and we are extremely grateful for their continued support," said LaVarne A. Burton, AKF president and CEO. "This year's grant not only funds important financial assistance programs for local residents living with kidney disease, but also allows us to reach into the community to serve people at risk for kidney disease through Know Your Kidneys, the nation's largest free kidney health screening program."

The Robert I. Schattner Foundation was established by Dr. Robert I. Schattner, a local dentist, inventor, businessman and philanthropist who died in 2017 from complications of kidney failure. The Foundation is dedicated to making education and dental care affordable and accessible to everyone.

"The Foundation's Board is gratified to know that, in 2019, these AKF programs, through our support, made a positive impact in the lives of hundreds of people living with kidney disease right here in our backyard," said Robert H. Sievers, treasurer of the Robert I. Schattner Foundation. "We are proud to renew our gift to AKF as a meaningful extension of Dr. Schattner's philanthropy, and to honor Dr. Schattner by building on our existing partnership to continue to help others living with kidney disease." 

The Foundation decided to renew and increase its support of AKF in 2020 in part because of AKF's careful stewardship of the donated dollar — AKF spends 97 cents of every donated dollar on patients and programs, not overhead. AKF is also ranked among the best nonprofits in the nation by all of the leading charity rating organizations.