The Gift of Life Donor Program awarded $2,000 in higher education scholarships to two Montgomery County teenagers and organ transplant recipients, according to a staff report from The Reporter.
The Jessica Beth Schwartz Memorial Scholarship goes to transplant recipients seeking higher education. The 2024-25 program recipients included Stephanie Atenco-Torres, of Norristown, and Brian Bruder, of Collegeville.
Atenco-Torres had chronic kidney disease as a newborn in 2007. The same year, both her kidneys were removed and she went on dialysis. Her father became a living donor when she was three years old and could receive a transplant. Today, she is attending LIM College to pursue fashion design.
“I make sure that no matter what is happening in my life, I will make it well known that I’m determined to grow as a person and an artist,” she said.
Bruder learned he had Dense Deposit Disease at age nine. Due to the rare autoimmune disease, he was put on a strict regimen of medications and medical assistance. His kidneys declined. He received a new kidney through a paired exchange with his mother, becoming a living donor. He is attending Temple University in the fall.
Read more about the two recipients in The Reporter.
