Get to Know Joni Trempala
CEO Joni Trempala leads Knox Associates, a women-owned company, where she has held numerous leadership roles throughout the past twenty-nine years.
Based in Phoenix, AZ, the Knox Company is the leading manufacturer of rapid access products that provide immediate ingress for first responders when they respond to calls for service in a wide range of businesses, campuses, military bases, medical facilities, and residences. Knox products remove barriers to entry, while reducing potential injuries, and minimizing property damages/repair costs. The company is trusted by more than 15,000 first responder agencies throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Trempala began her career at Knox as the Director of Human Resources and progressively advanced into additional leadership roles. In 2014, she became the CEO and under her leadership, the company has flourished year-over-year. Her vision and strategic approaches have led to the development of new and innovative products that are revolutionizing access for first responders.
Kidney Donation Statistics
Her commitment to growth, innovation, and technology has resulted in the development of the Knox eLock System™ an advanced rapid access solution.
A native of Grand Rapids, MI, and a graduate of Michigan State University, she became an elementary school teacher before joining the private sector in the human resources field.
Her strong beliefs in the power of philanthropy are evidenced through the support provided in helping to honor and remember America’s fallen fire heroes with the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, and as a member of the foundation’s Partner Council. In addition to that effort, she continually seeks opportunities to assist firefighters and their families during tragedies and disasters.
Would You Like to Become a Donor?
To register as a potential kidney donor visit: MtiLivingDonor.org which is the Miami Transplant Institute (Jackson Memorial Hospital – University of Miami School of Medicine); where Joni is registered and complete their online health history questionnaire BREEZE TRANSPLANT. The questionnaire assists in determining if you would be an eligible donor. If you are deemed a potential donor, the institute will contact you within a few weeks. Or, to learn more about kidney transplants visit: www.kidney.org/transplantation/livingdonors.
Please Spread the Word on Social Media
A Very Special Request
Dear Friends of Joni Trempala,
As many of you are aware, Joni is suffering from kidney disease which drastically impacts every aspect of her quality of life. Currently she is receiving dialysis three times a week to keep her kidneys doing their job - and now needs a kidney transplant, which requires a living donor that will provide her with a longer, healthier, and more normal life.
Statistically, a living donor improves the chances of receiving a transplant which will typically last longer and have better functionality than one obtained from a deceased donor. Currently, Joni’s best option is to receive a kidney from a living donor and as you can imagine that is a highly emotional and challenging position to be in as there are more than 100,000 people in the U.S. waiting for a kidney transplant.
Please consider sharing Joni’s urgent need for a live kidney donor with your friends, family, civic, and faith-based communities, and even on your social media platforms. Being a live donor may not be something you are able to do—but you can still help by sharing the importance of being an organ donor and letting others know how they can add their name to the national registry of donors.
You may not know a lot about living organ donations – few people do, and understandably some people are afraid of the surgery and what living with one kidney would mean for them. Below is information that will help you better understand what is involved in becoming a live kidney donor:
• You only need one kidney to live a healthy, long life.
• Most donor surgeries are laparoscopic (through tiny incisions). The recuperation period from that surgery is around two weeks.
• Joni’s insurance will cover the cost of a potential donor’s evaluation and the surgery. Along with travel expenses and other approved costs.
• A team of healthcare professionals will evaluate and determine who is eligible to be a living donor and will help those that are interested to understand the risks and benefits and will look out for YOUR best interests. Donors for Joni need to have either an O or A blood type.
To register as a potential kidney donor visit: MtiLivingDonor.org which is the Miami Transplant Institute (Jackson Memorial Hospital – University of Miami School of Medicine); where Joni is registered and complete their online health history questionnaire BREEZE TRANSPLANT. The questionnaire assists in determining if you would be an eligible donor. The institute will contact potential donors within a few weeks. And, to learn more about kidney transplants visit: www.kidney.org/transplantation/livingdonors.
It is with great hope and faith that with your assistance, Joni will soon receive a kidney, and that there will also be an increased interest in helping those on the long wait lists for a kidney or other organ donation.
Over the years, Joni has been a generous philanthropic donor with an emphasis on first responders, military personnel, and many other worthy causes.
Please consider helping in the quest to locate a live donor.
Thank you,
The Trempala Family
Finding a living donor can be a long and difficult process. Please consider sharing Joni’s urgent need for a live kidney donor with your friends, family, civic, and faith-based communities, and even on your social media platforms. Being a live donor may not be something you are able to do—but you can still help by sharing the importance of being an organ donor and letting others know how they can add their name to the national registry of donors. The more people that are aware of Joni's situation, the better the chance of finding a donor. Please click on the button on the right to access images and text that can be used to create messages for social media.
A Very Special Request
Get to Know Joni Trempala
Kidney Donation
Statistics
Would You Like to Become a Donor?
Please Spread the Word on Social Media
DO IT TODAY!
Registering to Become a
Living Kidney Donor is the First Step
The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation’s, First Responder Center for Excellence (FRCE), and the Knox Company collaboratively developed
Expand Your Legacy – Become a Living Kidney Donor, an educational and awareness campaign about the need for living kidney donors.
Statistics from the National Kidney Foundation estimate that more than 100,000 people in the U.S. are currently waiting for a kidney transplant and living donors are needed. Each month, over 3,000 new patients are added to the kidney waiting list.
A multi-part video series shares the stories of two individuals who received a kidney transplant from a living donor they knew, another’s long wait for a match to receive a kidney, and how an FDNY firefighter helped others through his organ and tissue donations.
Through four powerful testimonials, the story of the transformation that occurs following a kidney transplant, along with the selflessness
of a living donor, are told, along with the agony that comes with a multi-year wait to find a match with a living kidney donor, and a conversation with the widow of an FDNY firefighter who succumbed to injuries from a training drill and how his wishes to be an organ donor helped many individuals through his generous gift of life.
For more information on becoming a living kidney donor visit: Kidney.org/NFFF.
JONI TREMPALA | The Knox Company CEO
Awaits a live kidney donor for a much needed transplant
Retired Fire Chief Charley Westcott
A career chief/firefighter received a
kidney in September 2022, from a fire department colleague.
Battalion Chief Clay Estes
Murfreesboro, TN Fire Department received a kidney from a colleague’s
wife in 2021.
Kristina Moon
Widow of late FDNY firefighter Billy Moon, shares how her husband’s death from a training accident in December 2022, and his desire to be an organ and tissue donor, led to helping many.
National Fallen Firefighters Foundation Executive Director,
Ron Siarnicki
Appeals to firefighters to build a foundation of a lasting legacy by becoming a living kidney donor.
