https://www.sunydutchess.edu/about/facts/news/articles/living-donor-learning-symposium.html (https://www.sunydutchess.edu/about/facts/news/articles/living-donor-learning-symposium.html)
Inspiring Action Through Story: DCC Raises Awareness of Living Donation
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. — FEB. 2, 2026 — Nothing could have prepared Joia Ponticello for the moment that she learned she would need a kidney transplant.
As a lifelong type 1 diabetic, Ponticello had been through her share of health scares and hospital stays. But a diagnosis of chronic kidney disease was more terrifying than anything she had ever faced.
"It is a moment that steals your breath," Ponticello recalled. "A moment that forces you to imagine futures you never wanted to imagine. A moment that makes you look at your child differently, your spouse differently, your own reflection differently."
Ponticello shared her story during the Living Donor Learning Symposium and Education Fair at Dutchess Community College (DCC) on Feb. 2, an event dedicated to bringing awareness to the gift of living organ donation. The College welcomed representatives from Weill Cornell Medicine, Westchester Medical Center Health to share information on and demystify the process of organ donation and transplantation.
"At DCC, our mission is to provide education that changes lives and this program does exactly that," said DCC Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness Dr. Susan Rogers. "By creating space for learning, conversation and one-on-one connection about the power and impact of living donation, we hope to raise awareness, inspire action and help move us closer to life-saving solutions for the thousands of individuals waiting for a transplant."
DCC Student Trustee Ryan Shook is a living donor who shared his story during the event. At 27 years old, Shook was notified that he was a match for a man in need of a bone marrow transplant – eight years after he submitted a sample during a blood drive.
A patient needed help – a man in England had myelodysplastic syndrome – a disease that affects the bone marrow's ability to create mature blood cells. If left untreated, it can develop into leukemia.
Shook said as a healthy 22-year-old man, he "had no reason to say no" to donating bone marrow, even in spite his fear of needles.
"Growing up, hearing the words injection and IVs used to make my stomach turn. But I kept going," Shook shared during the event. "Because when you know someone's life is tied to your choice, your fear takes a backseat. It stops being about the needle, it starts being about the person."
DCC Board of Trustees Chair and Network Director for WMC's Clinical Care Management Dr. Angela Flesland shared her experience in supporting organ donation recipients during her time working as a nurse. She advocated for increased participation in the organ donor program and for those who elect to become donors to share their wishes with their families.
"Becoming an organ donor is one of the most powerful legacies that you can leave," she said. "It says 'my life matters, and so does yours.' And trust me, one day there will be someone out there praying for the chance that you could give them."
Flesland introduced keynote speaker and DCC alum, Dr. Muath Bishawi. As a cardiothoracic surgeon, Bishawi's expertise is in procedures involving the heart and lungs, and has overseen the transplantation of these organs from deceased donors. He said there is one common thread between all recipients who do well after receiving an organ.
"When they come back to see me, they all have the same question: 'Doc, how do I thank the person who gave me this? How do I give back with this gift?' And my answer is always the same: 'the first thing you can do is just take care of that organ,'" he said, going on to list the different ways they should take care of themselves.
"Taking care of the organ is, in a way, paying gratitude for the person who gave you this incredible gift," Bishawi continued. "Another one is giving back around you in your community. Because at the end of the day, what it is to be human is to give — at even the worst times — but also to give back and to share and strengthen the community around us."
To learn more about becoming a living kidney donor, visit the National Kidney Foundation (https://www.kidney.org/kidney-topics/becoming-living-donor). To learn more about Ponticello, visit her donor microsite (https://nkr.org/TJS335)