A kidney for Marcie

If Wonder Woman had a Sonoma clone, her name would be Marcie Becker Waldron. But even action figures wear out, and Marcie’s no different.

In 1997, after years of kidney failure and subsequent dialysis, Marcie was given a new kidney. Being an organ recipient not only gave her life, but changed it. She made it her personal goal to give back, to sign people up as organ donors, to make sure others got the same chance she did. Twenty-one years later—years full of service to many organizations—her sole kidney is now failing.

Without a new kidney, Marcie will be sidelined spending ten hours a day every day of the week on a dialysis machine. She’ll stay on the machine until she dies.

The woman who has helped thousands of others through her organ donor efforts, needs help from just one person—one who is willing to donate a healthy kidney to her. Could it be you?

Marcie Waldron’s efforts on behalf of numerous Sonoma organizations are legendary and while she’s lived almost her entire life with a challenging disease it has not kept her down.

Her fight for her own health began when she was diagnosed with Type One diabetes at the age of three. Her parents were told she would live to be 25. She is now 66.

During her childhood her entire family adopted a diabetes routine. No sweets, healthy food, lots of exercise—she didn’t even get cake on her birthday. She doesn’t remember a time when she didn’t have insulin shots.

She attended a special camp for diabetic children from the age of five. It was here she discovered her love of crafts, something that stuck with her into adulthood. In college she ran the camp’s craft program. Now she teaches free jewelry classes to teens from Mentoring, Teen Services and Young Life. She is looking forward to stating a program at La Luz.

For 40 years her kidneys did fine. Then they started to fail. Two and a half years later a kidney was found for her. It saved her life. It was a turning point that gave her new determination to do everything she could to “pay it forward,” to bring hope to others waiting for organs by raising awareness for the need for donors.

In 2015 Marcie Waldron became Sonoma’s Alcaldesa, an honor synonymous with Citizen of the Year in other communities.

Her accomplishments were many. She’d served on the Boards of Directors of two Kiwanis Clubs, one in Petaluma and one in Sonoma. She’d been president and a board member of Vintage House and Willmar Center for Bereaved Children. She served on the boards of Sonoma Community Center and La Luz. She was active in Impact 100, and Meals on Wheels.

In 2013 Marcie started a women’s jewelry making cooperative in the Dominican Republic so women could earn money to send their children to school. The program still going.

Another effort was her Sonoma Strong Hearts program after the devastating fires last fall. During the fires she handed them out at volunteer centers as a way of saying thank you. About a thousand Sonoma Strong necklaces were sold. Marcie donated the supplies in addition to her time, so all of the $15,000 in sales went to the Firefighters Relief Fund. The Rotary Club added money to the donation to total $45,000 for the firefighters.

After receiving her kidney in 1997, Marcie created a necklace for the mother of her organ donor. The five points of the star, in this first necklace, represented the five lives saved by the donation of five organs from this donor.

For 10 years Marcie made necklaces to give to donor families at ceremonies honoring their loved ones. Each sterling silver necklace was handcrafted by Marcie. It was one of her proudest accomplishments.

When Marcie was named Alcaldesa, she decided the role was an opportunity to highlight the need for organ donors. She started her “Got the Dot?” campaign, an effort to sign up new organ donors from Sonoma Valley. The reference was to the little pink dot that appears on a potential donor’s driver’s license.

She was a relentless ambassador, and her campaign reached its goal. Marcie has always been persuasive and relentless. Now her friends are following her example on her behalf.

If you have an interest in determining if you can be the donor she needs, go to https://ucdonor.org.