Contributed photoPRESQUE ISLE — The County Federal Credit Union on Oct. 21 announced a $15,000 donation to the County Dialysis Center so it can continue its life-changing mission.
In making the donation Ryan Ellsworth, CFCU president and CEO, said, “The value to our area of having this caliber of a life sustaining facility is immeasurable. Having this service here in our region helps alleviate some of the suffering from debilitating kidney disease. This donation fits with the credit union’s philosophy of ‘people helping people’.”
The County Dialysis Center saves lives every day. Healthy kidneys remove waste and toxins from the body and balance fluid levels, said Glenda Dwyer, interim president at The Aroostook Medical Center. One in three Americans is at risk for kidney disease, and kidney failure is a life changing — and life-threatening — condition. Luckily, there are treatments and medicines that can replace the functions of the kidneys and keep the body alive, like hemodialysis.
Only one dialysis center is located in Aroostook County, close to home.
“Without the Center, patients would have to travel down state for treatment, move from The County or go without treatments altogether,” Dwyer said. “Having a dialysis center close to home allows patients to receive local care with the support network of their families and friends.
“With generous support from The County Federal Credit Union and that of other thoughtful business leaders, we will succeed in our campaign to fund the County Dialysis Center for our neighbors in the County well into the future,” she said.
The goal over the next several months is to finish raising the $750,000 needed to help sustain the County Dialysis Center in northern Maine.
For information visit www.emhsfoundation.org/donate/tamc.
