BRICK – A Brick Township High School graduate was one of seven in New Jersey to win scholarships from the Sharing Network Foundation for raising awareness of organ and tissue donation and transportation.
The Sharing Network Foundation’s scholarships are made possible through several of the organization’s family and partner funds.
Brick resident Kimmy Kenny, 17, received a scholarship from the Jim Rhatican Scholarship Fund, created in memory of Jim Rhatican, a NJ Sharing Network Volunteer, liver transplant recipient and retired teacher and coach of 35 years.
“I want to go into the medical field, and when I saw this scholarship I thought ‘oh my gosh, this is perfect,’” she said from her home off Old Hooper Avenue.
“There were a lot of steps to getting the scholarship, but I decided to do it and I’m so happy I did,” she said.
Kimmy’s understanding and advocacy for organ and tissue donation stem from her firsthand experiences and aspirations, including a small skin graft surgery resulting from an accident when she was three years old.
“It’s so selfless of the donors,” she said. “In all the other fields, doctors can perform surgery and prescribe medicine and all that, but this in particular, requires two different people – more than just a doctor – it also requires a great human being.”
Oftentimes those in need of a donor can wait months for a donor with the proper blood type, age, condition of the organ and more, Kimmy said.
“It’s based on so many factors, and when someone gets a match, it is so rare that it’s literally a miracle,” she said.
Kimmy plans to attend Ocean County College where she will major in biology in her hopes of becoming a cardiovascular transplant physician. After two years, she plans to transfer to a four-year college and then medical school.
Kimmy’s mother, Colleen, is a teacher in Old Bridge and has earned her Master’s Degree in administration in the hopes of becoming a principal.
The family of Jim Rhatican celebrates Kimmy Kenny for her scholarship. (Photo courtesy Kenny family)
She is a single mother of three adopted daughters, including middle child Kimmy, who said she was neglected by her biological parents when she was a baby.
“The fact that she’s always wanted to help other people and her resilience to be successful – over a lot of tragedy and trauma – and here she comes out as this amazing kid that just keeps fighting and fighting is unbelievable,” Colleen said.
The contrast of her early childhood experiences with the selflessness of tissue and organ donors is partly why she is drawn to the cause, Kimmy said.
The 2024 graduates were presented with their scholarship awards in late June at NJ Sharing Network’s headquarters in New Providence
Kimmy is a registered organ and tissue donor, and she actively encourages others to do the same.
The Sharing Network is a non-profit organ procurement organization focused on saving and enhancing lives through the recovery of donated organs and tissue in New Jersey.
To learn more, get involved, and join the National Donate Life Registry as an organ and tissue donor, visit NJSharingNetwork.org.
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