REAL PEOPLE: Interview with the Flood Sisters

Glitter Magazine recently sat down with the Flood sisters to talk about The Flood Sisters Kidney Foundation of America, how it started, and the good that they’re doing to help match people with donors. We are in love with their cause and you will be too! Read on to find out more about these inspirational women.

 THE FLOOD SISTERS: Our non-profit started after my sisters and I had an out of the box idea to post an ad on craigslist to search for a kidney donor for our father in need. We were not blood type matches for our father and knew the national waiting list and dialysis were not options. I was a nurse and knew the waiting time would be 6-10 years and so we put our heads together and came up with the idea.

THE FLOOD SISTERS: We had used craigslist in the past for selling our jewelry, finding jobs, for networking and childcare.

It was a success so we figured why not use it to find dad a kidney donor? With craigslist, we were able to share our dad’s story all across the United States, the exposure reached so many people. Today, we use our database to match potential patients and we also use social media-Facebook, twitter to share our patient’s stories.

THE FLOOD SISTERS: We’re working with five new patients right now and hope our 7th and 8th  transplant will occur soon!

THE FLOOD SISTERS: The best way to prevent kidney disease is to get a physical every year. Two simple tests would be a urinalysis (tests for protein in your urine) and your Glomerular Filtration rate (GFR). GFR is estimated from results of a serum (or blood)creatinine test. People can be deceased organ donors by signing the back of their licenses. For living kidney donation, people can donate to a family member, friend, stranger by testing for them at the hospital. They can request to be a kidney donor through our organization and contacting us.

THE FLOOD SISTERS: My sisters and I are passionate about clean water for those in poor countries that don’t have clean running water. We are also passionate about  the homeless population-donating food, clothes to those less fortunate.

Trump Fashion Show:

This was our 3rd Annual Fashion show on April 26, 2014 to honor the month of organ donation and raise awareness for our work.

Designers involved included Zhang Toi, Nanette Lepore, Amy Matto, Unruly Heir, NYC Subway Line. We had live musicians perform- JD Pinto and Victoria Zaro. Trump donated the space to us for our charity. (the invite to this event is on our website, www.floodsisters.org).

THE FLOOD SISTERS: We are working with a 20-year-old from the Bronx in need of a kidney donor. Robert Rodriguez was born with kidney disease and went into kidney failure at the age of 12. Robert lives in the Bronx with his uncle and his family is from Honduras. He is registered at Montefiore Medical Center. He needs a B donor for transplant.

We also are working with a 19-year-old woman from our North Jersey article that went viral. Her name is Andrea. Andrea went into renal failure at the tender age of 3-years-old and received a kidney transplant from her father in 2009, now five years later, it’s rejecting. She continues on her journey in college getting straight A’s and hopes to go to medical school one day. She is a determined and intelligent young woman. Andrea can receive an A or O donor for testing.

Anyone interested in testing for Robert or Andrea, can contact the Flood Sisters at 646-715-8976 or email them at info@floodsisters.org. You can also visit their Facebook page for more information at https://www.facebook.com/floodsisterskidneyfoundationofamerica.