Scotch family embarks on another trip for kidney voucher program

An Abbotsford native once again is riding bicycle through central Wisconsin to promote the power of kidney donation.

Mark Scotch, along with family friend Jeff Lange from Pennsylvania will be riding 1,200 miles to promote the National Kidney Registry (NKR) Voucher Program.

The program provides two kidneys for those in need as someone can donate their kidney to the program, which matches their kidney to the best candidate. Then, the donating person receives a voucher which allows them to select a family member, friend or someone they know is need to be bumped to the top of the transplant list.

Mark’s wife Lynn donated her kidney in January of 2023 at UW Health in Madison. The NKR found the best match for Lynn’s kidney in their 103 Transplant Center network pool all across the USA to be someone in Illinois.

Lynn then gave her NKR voucher to twoyear- old Cooper Thompson, who lives in Minneapolis, Minn. Thompson had been on dialysis since he was eight months old. This gave Thompson top priority with the NKR to receive the best matched kidney for him at Masonic Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis, Minn.

The ride that Mark, Jeff and Lynn have embarked on will trace the route of Lynn’s kidney going to Illinois. Then, the riders will head to Minneapolis, Minnesota to join with the Thompson family.

The group will meet Ali Hansen, who donated a non-directed kidney at the University of Minnesota Fairview Medical Center to the same NKR network pool of 103 Transplant Centers across the nation, that somehow magically ended up being the best fit kidney for Cooper.

This will be the first meeting of all three people together at one time, Lynn, Cooper and Ali.

The ride, which has been dubbed, “Lynn’s Midwest Kidney Loop” by the Scotch family began on June 4 in Plover as the first segment of the group’s trip will encompass 212 miles that will end at Froedert Hospital, to Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center, Milwaukee.

The group met with lawmakers and the Stevens Point mayor as well as a recent kidney recipient as they started their ride. Mayor Mike Wiza gave Mark and Lynn a congratulatory proclamation that honored them as Plover residents for their work in the realm of kidney donation.

The final leg of the trip has Mark, Lynn and the crew riding through part of central Wisconsin.

The segment begins at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn, to Plover for a total of 387 miles. The ride will be from June 18-25:

■ ■ Tuesday, June 18 - Rochester, Minn. to Prior Lake, Minn.

■ ■ Wednesday, June 19 - Prior Lake, Minn. to Maple Grove, Minn.

■ ■ Thursday, June 20 - Maple Grove to Masonic Children’s, to University of MN Fairview, to Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, Minn.

■ ■ Friday, June 21 - Mayo CNE Nursing Conference, Rochester

■ ■ Saturday, June 22 - University Medical Center to Menomonie

■ ■ Sunday, June 23 - Menomonie to Augusta

■ ■ Monday, June 24 - Augusta to Marshfield

■ ■ Tuesday, June 25 - Marshfield to Plover To learn more about the voucher program, head to https://www.kidneyregistry. org/for-centers/voucher-program/. To learn more about Mark and Lynn's organization, “The Organ Trail” and to keep up with the latest ride, head to https://www.markscotch. com/.