A selfless gift

Southern Tier Kidney Association president now in need of a transplant

By Rich Place

POSTED: September 26, 2009

Sam Pellerito, far left, is pictured above with his wife, Kathleen, and children, Lorie Dumaine, Lisa MacDonald and Christopher Pellerito. Sam, who is president of the Southern Tier Kidney Association, is now on the waiting list for a kidney transplant.
Submitted photo

For years, Sam Pellerito has served as president of the Southern Tier Kidney Association and has helped countless people deal with various kidney problems. Now, he's the one in need.

Pellerito, who has worked as a teacher and administrator in the Jamestown Public School system for more than 30 years, suffers from polycystic kidney disease. Recently, his kidney production dropped below 20 percent, making him eligible to be placed on the waiting list for a kidney transplant.

Like dozens of other local residents, Pellerito's picture and a short biography have been placed on the Web site WNYKidneyConnection.org, a network of those in need of a kidney searching for a possible donor. Created in 2006 by a group called Women on a Mission, the site has paired two donors to people in need, creating new friendships and better lives.

"Right now, there are two people who can live a normal life free of a dialysis machine," said Jeanette Ostrom, one of the creators of the Web site. "I would call that enormously successful. Plus, all the hope it gives to everyone else on that site that it can happen to them."

Pellerito is one of those people hoping someone will step forward for a living organ donation. His biography was posted on the Web site so people can get to know Sam on a more personal level.

"My dad leads a very busy life, while everything he does is for other people," the biography on the Web site, which was written by his daughter, Lorie Dumaine, reads, "He lives a spiritual life with God and gives everything he has humbly. He never complains even though we know that he doesn't always feel well. Receiving a kidney transplant would be a blessing to him and our whole family."

Of course, many people do not need an online biography to get to know Pellerito. He plays an active role in the community and has influenced the lives of many people through the years. He worked as a Spanish teacher in the late 1960s and '70s before working in various school administrations in the area, including Rogers Elementary School and George Washington Middle School among others.

An example of his determination not to let his kidney disease affect his everyday life today, Pellerito is still involved in many community organizations. In addition to serving as president of the Board of the Southern Tier Kidney Association, the 62-year-old retiree currently serves as principal at the Catholic Academy of Holy Family School, is actively involved in Prison Ministry and he is currently in formation at the Christ of Kings Seminary in the Diaconate Program.

"I'm still doing all the things I (like to) do," Pellerito said. "Because the (kidney) function is diminished, I just find that I have to rest. I'll come home and lay down or something to try and rest a little more. But I'm still working full-time and actively involved in a whole bunch of activities, church and volunteering."

In addition, he also likes to play golf and spend time with his family, which includes his wife Kathleen, three children and five grandchildren. Because polycystic kidney disease is genetic, it is unfortunately nothing new to the Pellerito family.

Sam's father, Fred, served as a president of the Southern Tier Kidney Association before dying of kidney disease in 1996. Since then, Sam has been working harder than ever with the association to help people struggling with kidney problems. Ironically, it was Pellerito who helped create the WNY Kidney Connection Web site, where he now sees his name and picture.

"Being president of the kidney association, he was in on the ground floor when the ladies started to do that," Mrs. Pellerito said. "And he thought it was a wonderful thing."

"When Women on a Mission first started out as the WNY Kidney Connection, we did not have a home base for people to donate money to as a charitable deduction so we had our funds go through the Southern Tier Kidney Association," Ms. Ostrom said. "The Southern Tier Kidney Association kind of took us under their wing, so to speak. We are all very close knit in this 'kidney world.'"

Anyone with a healthy pair of kidneys can be a hero by logging on to WNYKidneyConnection.org and finding someone, like Sam, who is in need of a kidney. The site has already given two people new lives and hopes to continue that into the future.

"Donating a kidney to someone who is in great need is one of the most selfless gifts one person can give to another," said one living kidney donor. "When you choose to donate a kidney to someone you are literally 'giving the gift of life to that person.'"