Yaffa House Vancouver, a group home for Jewish adults with mental illnesses, is currently recruiting volunteers to do weekly, in-person activities with their residents for 1-2 hours. Scheduling is flexible and you will have an opportunity to meet with an amazing group of individuals. If you are interested or would like to know more, please email Ava Katz at yaffahousevolunteering@gmail.com.
Dear Friends,
I am writing today on behalf of a friend to so many of us, Dr. Kathi Kovacs, who needs a living kidney donor. Kathi is suffering from end-stage renal failure – a condition her father also suffered from. With only 11% function of her kidneys remaining and in decline, the clock is ticking.
Kathi is a wife, mom, grandmother to three young children, and a pillar of the Ottawa Jewish community and community at-large. As the current Chief of Staff of the Queensway-Carleton Hospital (QCH), Kathi is leading the community through COVID with grace, humility, and collaboration. Formerly, as Chief of Psychiatry at QCH, Kathi transformed mental health outcomes by putting patients at the centre of care.
Kathi was also Chair of NCSY Ottawa for over 10 years and is a Co-Founder of Torah High alongside Rabbi Simes (of blessed memory) and myself. And when Rabbi Simes was in his terrible car accident and became a quadriplegic, Kathi immediately stepped up as their patient advocate with her typical generosity and compassion. When the Simes family needed something in the middle of the night, they called Kathi. And every time Rabbi Simes was in the hospital, Kathi was by his side ensuring proper care.
Kathi has spent her entire life giving to others, and is now in need of a significant gift – a kidney from a living donor. While we are born with two kidneys, we can live a normal, healthy life with just one.
Kathi requires a donor with blood type A positive, A negative, O positive or O negative who is 18 and older. There is no upper age limit. Someone who is not eligible to donate blood may be eligible to donate a kidney as the criteria are different. Also, thanks to the national Kidney Paired Donation Program (https://www.blood.ca/en/organs-tissues/living-donation/kidney-paired-donation-program), people who are not a direct blood match to Kathi can still donate to save her life.
To contact the Living Kidney Donor Program at The Ottawa Hospital for more information, or to be tested as a match, please call 613-738-8400 ext. 82719 or visit:
https://www.ottawahospital.on.ca/en/clinical-services/deptpgrmcs/programs/kidney-donation/
For further general information about being a living kidney donor, please visit (Not where to apply. To apply, call The Ottawa Hospital number above):
If you’re on Facebook, please share this post: https://www.facebook.com/bregmanbram/posts/10165454207350304
If you’re on Twitter, please share this tweet: https://twitter.com/BregmanBram/status/1428052731076427785?s=20
If you’re on LinkedIn, please share this post: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/activity-6833820178321694721-z_1u
Thank you – and let’s get Kathi healthy so she can continue to keep us healthy as a community.
Respectfully yours,
Bram Bregman
