Greenville man in need of kidney supports Honorbridge golf tourney

A charity golf tournament set for Friday in Rocky Mount will raise funds and awareness for organ donation with help from a Greenville man who needs a kidney transplant.

Jim Slowinski will be among a host of players in the 21st Annual Pitt Charity Golf Tournament at Belmont Lake Golf Club including Tom Walter, the Wake Forest coach who famously donated a kidney to one of his players, and Mike Fox, recently inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame.

Slowinski, 65, works in financial services at Hyster-Yale Group and lives in Greenville with his wife, Vicki, who is a nurse at ECU Health. He is currently on the waiting list for a kidney transplant and is actively campaigning to find a donor. The tournament supports HonorBridge, the region’s orgran procurement agency, and raises critical awareness for organ donation.

HonorBridge spokesperson Dena Daw said Slowinski’s participation is a great reason for people to check out a web page his daughters created for him to help him find a match. Daughter Jill and her sister, Samantha, created the site through the National Kidney Registry to share more of his story. A link to the site is nkr.org/NFM576.

“We are thankful to be a part of The Pitt, and support HonorBridge and organ donation in general,” Jill Slowinski said.

The Pitt Charity Golf Tournament wascstarted by organ recipient Jim Pittman of Rocky Mount. Tournament chair and Pittman’s mother, Sheila Martin, gave her son a kidney 28 years ago. Her donation allowed Jim to live until Oct. 4, 2023 — the morning of the 20th Pitt Charity Golf Tournament. Martin will celebrate her son’s memory by participating once again in the tournament.

“As tournament chair and Jim Pittman’s mother and kidney donor, I can say that Jim was always so grateful that he never had to suffer with kidney disease because he had a living donor who stepped in as soon as he became eligible for a transplant,” said Martin. “After a successful surgery, he felt that he and I should do something that would help educate others about the miracle of organ donation. Since he had been an avid golfer since he was 7 years old, he felt that a golf tournament would be a perfect way to bring people together for a great cause. So, in 2003, the Pitt Tournament was born. Even though Jim is no longer with us, we want the tournament to continue to grow in memory of him.”

Slowinski has been diagnosed with a rare autosomal dominant tubulointerstitial kidney disease caused by a genetic mutation that only affects approximately 1,800 patients worldwide. A longtime golfer, he is joining the tournament for the first time, Daw said. His presence serves as a powerful reminder of the lifesaving impact of organ donation, she said.

In addition to checking out his web page, people also can support the tournament by registering to be an organ, eye and tissue donor at honorbridge.org/registerme. Donations can be mailed to 116 Cobblestone Court, Rocky Mount, NC 27804. All proceeds will benefit HonorBridge, North Carolina’s largest organ donation and tissue recovery organization.