Kidneys for Kids, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Bay City, Michigan, dedicated to helping children waiting for kidney transplants find living donors, recently announced that Margaret Manolis, a Franklin Square resident, mom of a kidney warrior, and national spokesperson for Kidneys for Kids, is undergoing evaluation to become a living kidney donor. The organization will document her journey on film as part of its documentary and television series, The Darker The Night, which will be released on Mar. 11, 2027, also known as World Kidney Day.
Manolis said she has passed her initial donor screening tests and is continuing through the evaluation process. She added that her evaluation is scheduled for Oct. 22 and will include consultations with the transplant team, laboratory tests, cardiology, and radiology. She is expecting the team to take a couple of weeks to review the results.
Manolis described the extensive evaluation and uncertainty about eligibility as challenging. Her husband is supportive but worried, while her children are supportive.
“I would say just the medical examination would be the challenging part because it's quite extensive, and you know the anxiety is building up at this point of not knowing or if you're even able to,” she said. “But I think that's the most frustrating part. I think once I get my answer, in the end, you know, I have a better focus on things.”
Manolis was inspired to become a living kidney donor after being rejected as a donor for her son last year due to her weight issue. She described the rejection as “a rollercoaster ride.”
Manolis said, if she’s eligible, she plans to donate to someone on the National Kidney Registry list. The donation would provide a voucher for her son’s potential future kidney transplant.
“I will donate my kidney to someone on the National Kidney Registry list. And what happens is I will get a voucher for Elias if and when he needs his next kidney, which could be in many, many, many years or in one year. But he will essentially have a voucher because I donated on his behalf. So that's how the voucher works,” she explained the process to the Herald.
Brian Martindale, founder of Kidneys for Kids, talked about Rita’s living-donor story and the documentary release plan. Martindale said Manolis’s story is one of many they filmed in 25 cities across the country over the summer, showing contrasting families' experiences before and after a kidney transplant and aiming to encourage living donations.
Martindale said the organization plans to release it on World Kidney Day, with independent theater screenings during Kidney Month, followed by streaming, which will be announced later. He added that thirty television episodes are planned for release beginning in fall 2027.
Manolis said the documentary will feature her family's journey, which she hopes will raise awareness about kidney transplants and explain the donor process. She hopes audiences take away a message of hope. She further encourages anyone willing to be a kidney donor.
“I would say God bless you and go for it. There's nothing to be scared of. You have an advocate with you the whole way," she said. "There's a whole community of people that have donated, and there's a huge support system. And go for it.”
