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Four generations together at 70th Rusnak family reunion

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More Luzerne County assessments reduced

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Kellen Warner spoke about some of his favorite things inside the Toyota Sports Plex on Saturday, such as his love for football, baseball and his girlfriend.</p><p>Looking at the 16-year-old, one would believe he is like most teenage boys &#8212; and he is &#8212; except that Kellen has a rare, incurable form of kidney disease.</p><p>Kellen, along with his family and friends, were at the center to host a Christmas in July ice-skating fundraiser for the KAIGAN Foundation, an organization his parents created following his diagnosis.</p><p>Standing for Kellen Against IGA Nephropathy, the KAIGAN Foundation provides awareness, research and support and more to juvenile kidney disease patients. It also donates items such as blood pressure machines and iPads to hospitals for patient use.</p><p>&#8220;They&#8217;re there for dialysis (which) takes three to six hours. So it gives them something to do,&#8221; said Kellen&#8217;s mother and KAIGAN Foundation co-founder, Nicole Warner.</p><p>Kellen was 11 when he began feeling ill and overly fatigued. A biopsy would later reveal his diagnosis, and with chemotherapy the disease was put into remission.</p><p>Now, he said, it&#8217;s reappeared after six years.</p><p>&#8220;This past winter, we relapsed again,&#8221; he explained. &#8220;What my mom&#8217;s doing here is trying to help kids like me &#8212; or kids who are even worse than me.&#8221;</p><p>Proceeds from several fundraisers go toward buying the equipment and funding other initiatives, including funds from Saturday&#8217;s skating event. Currently the nonprofit is raising funds to get a mobile gaming cart and special numbing mechanism for kids preparing for a kidney transplant.</p><p>With temperatures already soaring into the upper 90s by the afternoon, the cool blasts of air from the ice-covered rink were refreshing to skaters. Attendees were able to rent skates and use the rink for $10, shop vendors and take a chance at several raffles.</p><p>Offering music for the event, Eric Pimm, also known as DJ E-Rock, said the organization&#8217;s mission is special to him, as he has a family member undergoing the same situation.</p><p>&#8220;She recently went in for a transplant and unfortunately things didn&#8217;t work out,&#8221; he said. &#8220;She&#8217;s still on the active transplant list, so this is something that&#8217;s very near and dear to our hearts.&#8221;</p><p>Warner said that kidney disease is more prevalent than most realize, adding that it is ranked at the ninth deadliest silent killer in the U.S. By spreading education and acting as an advocate for families, she hopes that the organization can incite a positive change from patients to healthcare providers.</p><p>&#8220;Eventually your going to get to the point where if you don&#8217;t educate people now and 10 years down the road our fear is if people don&#8217;t know what an organ donor is,&#8221; she said. &#8220;We may be in a bigger predicament than we already are.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Kellen Warner, second from the right, with his family and friends during the Christmas in July ice-skating fundraiser for the KAIGAN Foundation Saturday. His parents, Jumper and Nicole, left, created the nonprofit after Kellen was diagnosed with a rare form of kidney disease. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/web1_20190720_140110.jpg</photo0><caption0>Kellen Warner, second from the right, with his family and friends during the Christmas in July ice-skating fundraiser for the KAIGAN Foundation Saturday. His parents, Jumper and Nicole, left, created the nonprofit after Kellen was diagnosed with a rare form of kidney disease. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/web1_201907208420690860509450784.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins mascot Tux interacts with attendees during a Christmas in July ice-skating fundraiser for the KAIGAN Foundation held at the Toyota Sports Plex Saturday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/web1_201907208420690860509450784.jpg</photo1><caption1>Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins mascot Tux interacts with attendees during a Christmas in July ice-skating fundraiser for the KAIGAN Foundation held at the Toyota Sports Plex Saturday. </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Marcella Kester</p><p>For Times Leader</p></bylineMeta></div>

Ice skating fundraiser benefits kidney disease foundation