Community aids Charlotte family raising funds for toddler's needed kidney transplant

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A local community is rallying around one Charlotte family to help raise more than $100,000 for a lifesaving organ transplant for their toddler.

Matthew Maroky has a chronic kidney disease. The team at Duke Children’s Hospital in Durham said he needs a kidney transplant to survive.

“Initially it was pretty hard for us to accept all the reality. We never expected things to go this bad with him,” Matthew’s father, Vijish Maroky, told Channel 9.

The family initially tried to cover the costs of treatment and was saving for the transplant, but Maroky said it led to a “financial crisis.”

Now, volunteers are hoping to raise $130,000 for transplant-related expenses with help from the national nonprofit The Children’s Organ Transplant Association.

That organization’s goal is to make sure no child is denied a transplant or excluded from a transplant waiting list due to an inability to pay.

“When we see the support we get from the community, we feel like we’re not fighting a lone battle,” Maroky said.

One hundred percent of all funds raised in honor of patients assist with transplant-related expenses for a patient’s lifetime.

Contributions may be sent to the Children's Organ Transplant Association, 2501 W. COTA Drive, Bloomington, IN, 47403. Checks should be made payable to COTA, with "In Honor of Matthew M" written on the memo line. Secure credit card gifts are accepted online at www.COTAforMatthewM.com.

Cox Media Group