Save a Life: Urgent Request for Help

AN URGENT LETTER FROM THE HESCHEL SCHOOL:

I am writing with the hope that we can help Shimon Vogel, our High School librarian. Shimon has been diagnosed with End Stage Kidney disease and desperately needs a life-saving donor kidney, blood type A+. 

In addition to dedicating his time to working with our high school students in the library, Shimon has served as a hazzan at Congregation Anshe Chesed in Linden, NJ. In a letter to their congregation, Diane Vogel, Shimon's wife, wrote that it is her "wish that he live to see our two youngest children to the chuppah and to shep nachas from his six granddaughters now and those who will be born IY"H in the future." Diane has expressed a sense of urgency to communicate with our community since, in her own words, "you never know whether or not there is someone who will respond to this urgent need."​​​​​​​

Shimon is working with Renewal, a remarkable non-profit organization, that strongly believes that an email campaign is the most effective technique to cast as wide a net as possible to help find a match for Shimon. Thus, I am sending this letter in the hope that you may be willing and able or may know of someone who is able and willing to do the incredible mitzvah of donating a kidney in order to save Shimon's life.

To learn how you can save a life, or for more information about kidney donation, please call 718-431-9831 ext. 209 (Brooklyn, NY). All inquiries to Renewal are strictly confidential and are without any obligation. They can also put you in touch with others who have donated a kidney and are willing to share their experience. All medical costs for evaluation and surgery are covered by the recipient's insurance. Ancillary costs such as travel expenses and lodging, may be covered by Renewal. For Israeli residents, initial screening and evaluation may be completed in Israel. Renewal will guide you through the process.

May we be privileged to help fulfill this mitzvah and care for Shimon.​​​​​​​

Ariela Dubler, Head of School