- Email: [email protected]
The modern National Kidney Foundation: Broad scope, clear vision, better lives
The Modern National Kidney Foundation: Broad Scope, Clear Vision, Better Lives John Davis ● The mission of the National Kidney Foundation is very broad, going well beyond what its name implies. The Foundation works for, cares about, and represents millions of Americans, from the child who wets the bed to the diabetic with hypertension to the grandfather on dialysis. It is dedicated to making lives better through a variety of educational programs for patients and their families as well as physicians, social workers, nurses, dietitians, technicians, administrators, and clinical and transplant coordinators. It supports research, promotes organ and tissue donation, provides direct services to patients, and advocates for patients through public policy and legislative initiatives. Its programs aid people at risk of kidney and urinary tract disease, individuals affected by these diseases, living organ donors and families of donors, and recipients of all types of lifesaving organ and tissue transplants. 娀 2000 by the National Kidney Foundation, Inc. INDEX WORDS: National Kidney Foundation; patient services; educational programs; professional education; transplant recipients.
A
T THE ANNUAL Meeting of the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) in 1996, the Foundation’s mission statement was revised and updated. The new mission statement recognized the emergence of the NKF into its modern era and prepares it for its second half century. The mission of the National Kidney Foundation is to prevent kidney and urinary tract diseases, improve the health and well being of individuals and families affected by these diseases, and increase the availability of all organs for transplantation.
This is one of the most expansive and inclusive mission statements in the voluntary health agency field. It clearly states the broad interpretation of its mission, which characterizes the modern NKF. It demonstrates how many people the NKF includes. It was not always so. Early in its 50-year history, the NKF focused almost solely on children with nephrosis and later on patients who needed dialysis to live. Today, the NKF sees a larger vision and includes in its family children with kidney or urinary problems, those on dialysis, those who have had a transplant, those who await a transplant, those who have early renal insufficiency, those who donate an organ, and all of their families. This means that the NKF works for, cares From the National Kidney Foundation, New York, NY. Address reprint requests to John Davis, Chief Executive Offıcer, National Kidney Foundation, 30 E 33rd St, New York, NY 10016-5337. E-mail: [email protected]
娀 2000 by the National Kidney Foundation, Inc. 0272-6386/00/3504-0117$3.00/0 S76
about, and represents millions of Americans. It holds closest the dialysis patients, the transplant recipients, and those who suffer from kidney disease. Yet, it works for the hundreds of thousands who have chronic renal insufficiency and the millions who have some risk factor or early marker that could lead to serious problems. And it includes the families. The NKF is the ultimate family organization. When someone is on dialysis, a family lives with it; when someone dies and organ donation is a possibility, a family decides; when early identification of renal insufficiency occurs, a family participates in the treatment; and when someone needs a transplant, a family waits. These families are the faces of the NKF. It is a broad array. It includes the child who wets the bed and the grandfather on dialysis. It includes the diabetic with hypertension. It includes the young woman with urinary tract infections. And it includes the mother who donates the organs of her child who died. Even when patients are alone, there is a family of care givers who live with them, who care for them, who wait with them, and who advocate for them. They are part of the NKF’s family, too. The physicians, the social workers, nurses, dietitians, technicians, administrators, coordinators, and volunteers show the face of the NKF in the everyday lives of their patients. They employ the programs, the tools, and the expertise of the NKF in making the lives of their patients better, and they employ the commitment of the NKF in working together to make the outcome of their care better.
American Journal of Kidney Diseases, Vol 35, No 4, Suppl 1 (April), 2000: pp S76-S80
THE MODERN NKF
To make all of these lives better, the NKF needs a family of its own. It cannot flourish without the advantage of Affiliates in every corner of the United States to mirror the national mission and focus it on local people. It needs professional councils who bring expertise and the spirit of team treatment to all of the NKF’s programs. It needs scientists and investigators who look for tomorrow’s answers. It needs constituent councils who bring the faces of the NKF into its structure. It needs a dedicated staff whose knowledge and leadership make progress possible. And it needs volunteers who give of themselves so that other lives can be better. Thus, the NKF in its modern existence stands for meaningful and effective programs focused on the people whose lives can be made better. In the continuum of people the NKF serves, it begins in the middle. Between early renal insufficiency and restoration of health through transplantation or maintenance dialysis, the NKF focuses on those people who face a diagnosis of renal failure. For them, the NKF has these programs to improve the outcome of their care and the life they live while undergoing treatment: NKF-DOQI This massive project seeks to improve the outcome of patient care via a series of clinical practice guidelines developed through the strictest application of scientific rigor, a thorough review of all the applicable literature, and the consolidation of the best medical opinion. The NKF-DOQI Clinical Practice Guidelines have become the ‘‘gold standard’’ of quality care, leading to better outcomes the world over. In hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis, vascular access, and anemia, the guidelines are universally taken into account in planning quality improvement. In the future, nutrition, bone disease, hypertension, and lipid control will continue the NKF’s commitment to its patients through the development of clinical practice guidelines. Family Focus This umbrella designation of the NKF programs devoted to making the lives of patients and families better is another gold-standard trademark of the NKF. Renal care professionals, patients, and families know that an NKF Family Focus Program is designed to inform, empower,
S77
and motivate patients to be the most important member of the health care team. These programs include People Like Us, the landmark seven-part video series present in every American dialysis unit. They include People Like Us, Live!, classes on living a full life that includes dialysis and on the variety of choices patients have. They include Family Focus, the renal community’s newspaper and America’s most read, most valuable, most usable publication for dialysis patients and their families. And they include a National Information Center, resource library, fact sheets, brochures, videos, and individual attention. For those whose treatment course includes transplantation, the NKF has focused on many programs and has even established an organization solely devoted to making more and better transplants possible. Transplant America This is the NKF’s supporting organization that focuses its entire wealth of resources on reversing the growing waiting list and the static rate of transplantation. One of the ways in which it does this is to help recipients live a full, healthy life and keep their transplant to avoid a return to the waiting list. The NKF has never limited itself to kidney donation or to kidney transplantation. It is committed to greater transplantation of all organs. Transplant America is working toward increasing living donation and studying its efficacy. It will focus on compliance and cardiovascular well-being after a transplant. And it will focus on the consent process and ways to improve the rate of consent. Through consensus conferences, datagathering and analysis, program development, and collaboration with other organizations, the NKF and Transplant America will make a difference in the lives of recipients, donors, and their families. The US Transplant Games The US Transplant Games are the crown jewel of the American transplant community. They bring together thousands of transplant recipients and their families, donor families, living donors, health care professionals, physicians, and surgeons. The Games dramatically show that transplantation works. And the Games illustrate the need for greater rates of organ donation so that more people can live the better lives enjoyed by
S78
transplant athletes. NKF presents the US Transplant Games on behalf of the entire transplant community, sharing its benefits with other organizations and its message with all of America. For those who have early renal insufficiency or risk factors indicating a possibility of developing kidney problems, the NKF has focused on many programs to help slow down or eliminate progression toward serious kidney disease. KEEP The Kidney Early Evaluation Program (KEEP) asks relatives of dialysis patients and those with kidney disease, diabetes, or hypertension to be tested to determine their own risk of these diseases. Results of these screenings have been very significant, and science has shown that subsequent interventions can keep these people from suffering the consequences of undetected kidney disease. Diet, exercise, lifestyle changes, and medication can make years of difference by slowing or stopping the progression of serious disease. These family members of today’s patients may never become tomorrow’s patients, because KEEP identified their problem and led to an effective prevention plan. PARADE This initiative, Proteinuria, Albuminuria, Risk, Assessment, Detection, and Elimination (PARADE), is the NKF’s premiere effort to reach and help those who have, or who are at risk of, early renal insufficiency. Many things can be done for people who have proteinuria or microalbuminuria. All should have their health monitored and take steps to limit hypertension and other conditions that exacerbate the potential for kidney damage. A major challenge is to identify these people and motivate their physicians to continually take their risk factors into account. Many will never face renal failure, but some will. The outcome of their later care can be greatly improved because of the quality of their early care. PARADE seeks to find those who need a closer look and to influence their health care. For all the members of the health care team, the NKF provides a home and a source of education, information, and resources to make the best
JOHN DAVIS
possible life available to every family with a kidney problem. The NKF Constituent Councils The NKF has fostered three Constituent Councils that include the ultimate focus of the NKF’s mission—the patients and families whose lives involve dialysis, transplantation, or organ donation. The Patient and Family Council, The transAction Council, and The National Donor Family Council make membership in the NKF a meaningful, helpful, and supportive experience. Newsletters, alerts, public policy reports, local chapters, local meetings, and Affiliate resources make council membership a daily source of help as members face life on dialysis, a transplant, or the grief of losing a loved one. These members put the most meaningful face of all on the NKF. The NKF Professional Councils The team approach to providing medical care that has characterized renal medicine for decades is one of its strongest advantages. Social workers, nurses, technicians, and dietitians are integral parts of the renal care team. Of course, the NKF offers them a home through membership in one of its Professional Councils. The Council of Nephrology Nurses and Technicians, The Council of Nephrology Social Workers, and The Council on Renal Nutrition provide the NKF with the voice of the team and focus its resources on helping team members provide the best possible care. For those people who search for answers to today’s problems and investigate tomorrow’s opportunities, the NKF supports the best medical practice and the ‘‘cutting edge’’ scientific inquiries that lead to ever-improving patient outcomes. NKF Physician Membership The NKF provides physicians with a home among their team members, patients, fellow scientists, and those who have an interest in furthering their work. Physician membership in the NKF includes a subscription to The American Journal of Kidney Diseases, the world’s premier journal of clinical nephrology. NKFMD is the Foundation’s communication link with its physi-
THE MODERN NKF
cian members. It reports on public policy, program developments, scientific matters, and the leadership roles that NKF physicians play in the nephrology community worldwide. NKF Biomedical Research Program Next to the National Institutes of Health, the NKF provides the largest amount of biomedical research support in kidney disease in the world. The NKF’s research program each year includes 50 Research Fellows, 20 Young Investigator Grants, and nine Clinical Investigator Awards. This commitment to investigation is the ultimate NKF patient service. The answers to kidney disease, better means to treat it, and ways to even cure it fall within the mission of the NKF Biomedical Research Program. Supporting research is the NKF’s oldest and firmest commitment. In 1989, the research budget was doubled. Again, in 1997, another doubling was approved. This commitment is permanent. Until the answers are found, the NKF will be in the lead in supporting those who search. For those who need support in working with the health care system, the NKF focuses on advocacy, representing patients, families, professionals, and the public in bringing the best possible lives to all its constituencies. The NKF’s Offıce of Scientific and Public Policy Washington, DC, is the place where many decisions regarding care are made. The NKF has established an expert group of government relations professionals in Washington to advocate for the NKF’s constituents full-time. The office works with the Congress as it deals with the legacy launched by the NKF 25 years ago—the Medicare ESRD Program. It also deals with the Health Care Financing Administration, which oversees America’s historic first experiment with a diseasespecific government entitlement to health care. The office works as well with the National Institutes of Health in its research mission, with the states as they make decisions affecting NKF constituencies, and with federal agencies and members of Congress on behalf of issues important to those who live with kidney disease or wait for a transplant.
S79
The NKF’s Relationship With the Private Sector Many private companies and not-for-profit organizations have a great impact on the lives of the NKF constituencies. These range from managed care companies to transplant networks to chains of dialysis providers. These groups make decisions and face economic realities that can have a dramatic impact on patients’ lives. The NKF works with these organizations every day to help them make the best decisions for patient outcomes. The NKF provides programs, education, and advice that is valuable to the providers and the care systems they establish, but more importantly, to the patients’ lives. For those who support the NKF’s mission and make its progress possible, the Foundation focuses all of the resources it can on making the work easier and more effective. The Affıliates The NKF has always been a grass roots Affiliate-based organization. It progresses nationally because it works locally. Affiliates are the needs assessors, the personal point of contact, the fund raisers, the program implementors, and the resource allocators of the organization. Having strong, successful Affiliates is one of the top priorities of the national organization. Tools, education, programs, events, advice, and resources are provided to Affiliates in anticipation of their use and investment in the local mission. All 52 Affiliates combine to make the total organization what it is today. Strong volunteers, capable staff, dedicated medical professionals, and active constituents make up the NKF Affiliates. Their support is a prime opportunity for investment to pay off in progress. The restructuring launched in 1999 was designed to give a meaningful voice and strong influence to the Affiliates as they consider national plans and decisions. The Volunteers NKF volunteers provide the organization the ability to make its mission a reality. Thousands of people from all walks of life all across America volunteer their time and talents to the work of the NKF. From the National Board of Directors to individuals selling raffle tickets, people give of themselves so that the NKF can make lives
S80
better. These people deserve the gratitude and respect of all of those who benefit from the NKF’s work. Without them, nothing would be possible. Again, the 1999 restructuring was instituted to make volunteer service at the NKF more effective. It will allow volunteers to do the unique things that only they can do, which will lead the organization to even higher levels of success. Only a brief summary of the scope of the NKF’s mission is possible in a short paper. These
JOHN DAVIS
highlights establish how broad the NKF has become and how many people look to it for support, education, information, motivation, advocacy, and services. The NKF is the home for many families. No narrow, special interest group nor single issue dominates the NKF’s scope or vision. The modern NKF faces the challenges of its second half century with broad support, a clear vision, and a mission to make lives better for all its many families.
A
T THE ANNUAL Meeting of the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) in 1996, the Foundation’s mission statement was revised and updated. The new mission statement recognized the emergence of the NKF into its modern era and prepares it for its second half century. The mission of the National Kidney Foundation is to prevent kidney and urinary tract diseases, improve the health and well being of individuals and families affected by these diseases, and increase the availability of all organs for transplantation.
This is one of the most expansive and inclusive mission statements in the voluntary health agency field. It clearly states the broad interpretation of its mission, which characterizes the modern NKF. It demonstrates how many people the NKF includes. It was not always so. Early in its 50-year history, the NKF focused almost solely on children with nephrosis and later on patients who needed dialysis to live. Today, the NKF sees a larger vision and includes in its family children with kidney or urinary problems, those on dialysis, those who have had a transplant, those who await a transplant, those who have early renal insufficiency, those who donate an organ, and all of their families. This means that the NKF works for, cares From the National Kidney Foundation, New York, NY. Address reprint requests to John Davis, Chief Executive Offıcer, National Kidney Foundation, 30 E 33rd St, New York, NY 10016-5337. E-mail: [email protected]
娀 2000 by the National Kidney Foundation, Inc. 0272-6386/00/3504-0117$3.00/0 S76
about, and represents millions of Americans. It holds closest the dialysis patients, the transplant recipients, and those who suffer from kidney disease. Yet, it works for the hundreds of thousands who have chronic renal insufficiency and the millions who have some risk factor or early marker that could lead to serious problems. And it includes the families. The NKF is the ultimate family organization. When someone is on dialysis, a family lives with it; when someone dies and organ donation is a possibility, a family decides; when early identification of renal insufficiency occurs, a family participates in the treatment; and when someone needs a transplant, a family waits. These families are the faces of the NKF. It is a broad array. It includes the child who wets the bed and the grandfather on dialysis. It includes the diabetic with hypertension. It includes the young woman with urinary tract infections. And it includes the mother who donates the organs of her child who died. Even when patients are alone, there is a family of care givers who live with them, who care for them, who wait with them, and who advocate for them. They are part of the NKF’s family, too. The physicians, the social workers, nurses, dietitians, technicians, administrators, coordinators, and volunteers show the face of the NKF in the everyday lives of their patients. They employ the programs, the tools, and the expertise of the NKF in making the lives of their patients better, and they employ the commitment of the NKF in working together to make the outcome of their care better.
American Journal of Kidney Diseases, Vol 35, No 4, Suppl 1 (April), 2000: pp S76-S80
THE MODERN NKF
To make all of these lives better, the NKF needs a family of its own. It cannot flourish without the advantage of Affiliates in every corner of the United States to mirror the national mission and focus it on local people. It needs professional councils who bring expertise and the spirit of team treatment to all of the NKF’s programs. It needs scientists and investigators who look for tomorrow’s answers. It needs constituent councils who bring the faces of the NKF into its structure. It needs a dedicated staff whose knowledge and leadership make progress possible. And it needs volunteers who give of themselves so that other lives can be better. Thus, the NKF in its modern existence stands for meaningful and effective programs focused on the people whose lives can be made better. In the continuum of people the NKF serves, it begins in the middle. Between early renal insufficiency and restoration of health through transplantation or maintenance dialysis, the NKF focuses on those people who face a diagnosis of renal failure. For them, the NKF has these programs to improve the outcome of their care and the life they live while undergoing treatment: NKF-DOQI This massive project seeks to improve the outcome of patient care via a series of clinical practice guidelines developed through the strictest application of scientific rigor, a thorough review of all the applicable literature, and the consolidation of the best medical opinion. The NKF-DOQI Clinical Practice Guidelines have become the ‘‘gold standard’’ of quality care, leading to better outcomes the world over. In hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis, vascular access, and anemia, the guidelines are universally taken into account in planning quality improvement. In the future, nutrition, bone disease, hypertension, and lipid control will continue the NKF’s commitment to its patients through the development of clinical practice guidelines. Family Focus This umbrella designation of the NKF programs devoted to making the lives of patients and families better is another gold-standard trademark of the NKF. Renal care professionals, patients, and families know that an NKF Family Focus Program is designed to inform, empower,
S77
and motivate patients to be the most important member of the health care team. These programs include People Like Us, the landmark seven-part video series present in every American dialysis unit. They include People Like Us, Live!, classes on living a full life that includes dialysis and on the variety of choices patients have. They include Family Focus, the renal community’s newspaper and America’s most read, most valuable, most usable publication for dialysis patients and their families. And they include a National Information Center, resource library, fact sheets, brochures, videos, and individual attention. For those whose treatment course includes transplantation, the NKF has focused on many programs and has even established an organization solely devoted to making more and better transplants possible. Transplant America This is the NKF’s supporting organization that focuses its entire wealth of resources on reversing the growing waiting list and the static rate of transplantation. One of the ways in which it does this is to help recipients live a full, healthy life and keep their transplant to avoid a return to the waiting list. The NKF has never limited itself to kidney donation or to kidney transplantation. It is committed to greater transplantation of all organs. Transplant America is working toward increasing living donation and studying its efficacy. It will focus on compliance and cardiovascular well-being after a transplant. And it will focus on the consent process and ways to improve the rate of consent. Through consensus conferences, datagathering and analysis, program development, and collaboration with other organizations, the NKF and Transplant America will make a difference in the lives of recipients, donors, and their families. The US Transplant Games The US Transplant Games are the crown jewel of the American transplant community. They bring together thousands of transplant recipients and their families, donor families, living donors, health care professionals, physicians, and surgeons. The Games dramatically show that transplantation works. And the Games illustrate the need for greater rates of organ donation so that more people can live the better lives enjoyed by
S78
transplant athletes. NKF presents the US Transplant Games on behalf of the entire transplant community, sharing its benefits with other organizations and its message with all of America. For those who have early renal insufficiency or risk factors indicating a possibility of developing kidney problems, the NKF has focused on many programs to help slow down or eliminate progression toward serious kidney disease. KEEP The Kidney Early Evaluation Program (KEEP) asks relatives of dialysis patients and those with kidney disease, diabetes, or hypertension to be tested to determine their own risk of these diseases. Results of these screenings have been very significant, and science has shown that subsequent interventions can keep these people from suffering the consequences of undetected kidney disease. Diet, exercise, lifestyle changes, and medication can make years of difference by slowing or stopping the progression of serious disease. These family members of today’s patients may never become tomorrow’s patients, because KEEP identified their problem and led to an effective prevention plan. PARADE This initiative, Proteinuria, Albuminuria, Risk, Assessment, Detection, and Elimination (PARADE), is the NKF’s premiere effort to reach and help those who have, or who are at risk of, early renal insufficiency. Many things can be done for people who have proteinuria or microalbuminuria. All should have their health monitored and take steps to limit hypertension and other conditions that exacerbate the potential for kidney damage. A major challenge is to identify these people and motivate their physicians to continually take their risk factors into account. Many will never face renal failure, but some will. The outcome of their later care can be greatly improved because of the quality of their early care. PARADE seeks to find those who need a closer look and to influence their health care. For all the members of the health care team, the NKF provides a home and a source of education, information, and resources to make the best
JOHN DAVIS
possible life available to every family with a kidney problem. The NKF Constituent Councils The NKF has fostered three Constituent Councils that include the ultimate focus of the NKF’s mission—the patients and families whose lives involve dialysis, transplantation, or organ donation. The Patient and Family Council, The transAction Council, and The National Donor Family Council make membership in the NKF a meaningful, helpful, and supportive experience. Newsletters, alerts, public policy reports, local chapters, local meetings, and Affiliate resources make council membership a daily source of help as members face life on dialysis, a transplant, or the grief of losing a loved one. These members put the most meaningful face of all on the NKF. The NKF Professional Councils The team approach to providing medical care that has characterized renal medicine for decades is one of its strongest advantages. Social workers, nurses, technicians, and dietitians are integral parts of the renal care team. Of course, the NKF offers them a home through membership in one of its Professional Councils. The Council of Nephrology Nurses and Technicians, The Council of Nephrology Social Workers, and The Council on Renal Nutrition provide the NKF with the voice of the team and focus its resources on helping team members provide the best possible care. For those people who search for answers to today’s problems and investigate tomorrow’s opportunities, the NKF supports the best medical practice and the ‘‘cutting edge’’ scientific inquiries that lead to ever-improving patient outcomes. NKF Physician Membership The NKF provides physicians with a home among their team members, patients, fellow scientists, and those who have an interest in furthering their work. Physician membership in the NKF includes a subscription to The American Journal of Kidney Diseases, the world’s premier journal of clinical nephrology. NKFMD is the Foundation’s communication link with its physi-
THE MODERN NKF
cian members. It reports on public policy, program developments, scientific matters, and the leadership roles that NKF physicians play in the nephrology community worldwide. NKF Biomedical Research Program Next to the National Institutes of Health, the NKF provides the largest amount of biomedical research support in kidney disease in the world. The NKF’s research program each year includes 50 Research Fellows, 20 Young Investigator Grants, and nine Clinical Investigator Awards. This commitment to investigation is the ultimate NKF patient service. The answers to kidney disease, better means to treat it, and ways to even cure it fall within the mission of the NKF Biomedical Research Program. Supporting research is the NKF’s oldest and firmest commitment. In 1989, the research budget was doubled. Again, in 1997, another doubling was approved. This commitment is permanent. Until the answers are found, the NKF will be in the lead in supporting those who search. For those who need support in working with the health care system, the NKF focuses on advocacy, representing patients, families, professionals, and the public in bringing the best possible lives to all its constituencies. The NKF’s Offıce of Scientific and Public Policy Washington, DC, is the place where many decisions regarding care are made. The NKF has established an expert group of government relations professionals in Washington to advocate for the NKF’s constituents full-time. The office works with the Congress as it deals with the legacy launched by the NKF 25 years ago—the Medicare ESRD Program. It also deals with the Health Care Financing Administration, which oversees America’s historic first experiment with a diseasespecific government entitlement to health care. The office works as well with the National Institutes of Health in its research mission, with the states as they make decisions affecting NKF constituencies, and with federal agencies and members of Congress on behalf of issues important to those who live with kidney disease or wait for a transplant.
S79
The NKF’s Relationship With the Private Sector Many private companies and not-for-profit organizations have a great impact on the lives of the NKF constituencies. These range from managed care companies to transplant networks to chains of dialysis providers. These groups make decisions and face economic realities that can have a dramatic impact on patients’ lives. The NKF works with these organizations every day to help them make the best decisions for patient outcomes. The NKF provides programs, education, and advice that is valuable to the providers and the care systems they establish, but more importantly, to the patients’ lives. For those who support the NKF’s mission and make its progress possible, the Foundation focuses all of the resources it can on making the work easier and more effective. The Affıliates The NKF has always been a grass roots Affiliate-based organization. It progresses nationally because it works locally. Affiliates are the needs assessors, the personal point of contact, the fund raisers, the program implementors, and the resource allocators of the organization. Having strong, successful Affiliates is one of the top priorities of the national organization. Tools, education, programs, events, advice, and resources are provided to Affiliates in anticipation of their use and investment in the local mission. All 52 Affiliates combine to make the total organization what it is today. Strong volunteers, capable staff, dedicated medical professionals, and active constituents make up the NKF Affiliates. Their support is a prime opportunity for investment to pay off in progress. The restructuring launched in 1999 was designed to give a meaningful voice and strong influence to the Affiliates as they consider national plans and decisions. The Volunteers NKF volunteers provide the organization the ability to make its mission a reality. Thousands of people from all walks of life all across America volunteer their time and talents to the work of the NKF. From the National Board of Directors to individuals selling raffle tickets, people give of themselves so that the NKF can make lives
S80
better. These people deserve the gratitude and respect of all of those who benefit from the NKF’s work. Without them, nothing would be possible. Again, the 1999 restructuring was instituted to make volunteer service at the NKF more effective. It will allow volunteers to do the unique things that only they can do, which will lead the organization to even higher levels of success. Only a brief summary of the scope of the NKF’s mission is possible in a short paper. These
JOHN DAVIS
highlights establish how broad the NKF has become and how many people look to it for support, education, information, motivation, advocacy, and services. The NKF is the home for many families. No narrow, special interest group nor single issue dominates the NKF’s scope or vision. The modern NKF faces the challenges of its second half century with broad support, a clear vision, and a mission to make lives better for all its many families.