Hot Air & High Hikes - '25 One Kidney Climb

Benjamin Smith / KDA Rim to River to Rim Challenge

Above – Mt LeConte Fall '24

Here's your chance to help KDA bring kidney donor awareness to the Rims of the Grand Canyon.

In the fall of 2025, Benjamin and 20 other kidney donors will show how living after kidney donation does not slow you down. The group will trek from the South Rim to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon — in one day. Funds raised will support KDA's efforts to educate potential living donors and to help donors return to active, healthy lives after donation.

  • $3,668

    Raised

  • $5,000

    Goal

  • 35

    Supporters

  • 56

    Days Remaining

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About Hot Air & High Hikes - '25 One Kidney Climb

Benjamin Smith – Rim2Rim Challenge Participant

Benjamin’s journey to kidney donation started in an unexpected place — the hot air ballooning community. A balloon enthusiast since childhood, Benjamin has been part of the sport for decades. In 2019, when the son of a local pilot and friend needed a kidney transplant, a call went out to fellow balloonists asking for potential donors.

A lifelong blood and platelet donor and former bone marrow registry volunteer, Benjamin felt immediately compelled to step up. Though he wasn’t a match, he stayed in the paired donation program. In mid-November 2021, the intended recipient received notice of a very close match on the deceased donor registry. Benjamin chose to remain listed — now as a non-directed donor. Just a few weeks later, a match was found, and on December 7, 2021, he donated his kidney through Indiana University Hospital in Indianapolis. His donation went to a father near Wake Forest, North Carolina.

Benjamin is participating in the Rim to Rim Challenge because he believes donation doesn’t end with surgery — it’s the beginning of lifelong advocacy. He hopes to show that kidney donors are not limited by their gift, but instead energized by it. Through the Kidney Donor Athletes community, he is proud to inspire others to consider donation and embrace life fully afterward.

He lives in Danville, Illinois with his wife Shannon and their four daughters: Sydney, Katherine, Rebecca, and Heather. Benjamin works as a Senior Business Process Engineer at Watchfire, a company that produces LED signage for the outdoor, indoor, and sports markets. In his free time, aside from ballooning, he enjoys hiking with friends, conquering trails like Mt. LeConte and Pikes Peak, and serving as an AVL Engineer in houses of worship.