The case for paying kidney donors | Morning Newsletter

Welcome to another cool and cloudy day, Philly.

Should kidney donations be purely altruistic? Extra organs are hard to come by, but transplants can save lives. The Inquirer’s Wendy Ruderman has the story on the advocates who want a $50,000 tax credit for kidney donations to encourage more people to sign up, even though it’s currently illegal to pay for organs in the U.S.

And the Giant Wooden Slide is the centerpiece of the Smith Playground experience for many young visitors. It got a big shout-out on Abbott Elementary last night — just in time for a big fundraising push.

— Julie Zeglen (@juliezeglen, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

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Would you donate a kidney? What if you got paid to do it?

Life-saving potential: It’s illegal to buy or sell organs in the U.S. Yet around 5,000 people die each year while on the waiting list to get a kidney transplant. Some advocates think more people would be incentivized to donate their spare kidney if they got something in return — like a $50,000 tax credit.

Risk of bad actors: Yet the idea has its vehement detractors, including bioethicists, who fear abuse by those who seek to profit from a paying system.

In the reporter’s words: Health reporter Wendy Ruderman first heard about this national effort from a kidney donor agitating for the tax incentive. As she learned by speaking to more than a dozen passionate people on both sides of the issue and reading scores of research, “It’s an incredibly complex, fraught and emotional debate.”

So, would you? Ruderman’s reporting even made her consider whether she’d ever become a so-called altruistic donor: “Initially, I thought to myself, ‘Wow, I would never donate a kidney to a stranger. That’s crazy nice,’” she told me. “I was surprised that by the end of my reporting, I thought, ‘Humm, I’d be open to it.’”

Bonus: Thinking of donating a kidney? Here’s what to expect from the prep, surgery, and recovery, courtesy of a 24-year-old Fishtown resident who this week underwent the operation. We also have the story of a South Jersey woman who donated her kidney 10 years ago, calling it “a no-brainer.”

Smith Memorial Playground and Playhouse in Fairmount Park may just be Philly’s best-kept secret.

🛝 “There are people that know Smith deeply, with the generational connection going back many years,” Smith executive director Frances Hoover told The Inquirer, “and then there is a fair amount of people who grew up here and live here that have no idea we’re here.”

🛝 More people will be in on the secret now, thanks to a feature on last night’s episode of Abbott Elementary, the Emmy-winning mockumentary show set in a Philadelphia school. The kid-favorite Giant Wooden Slide is the set for the season’s “emotional crux,” per a showrunner.

🛝 The spotlight also comes at a pivotal moment for Smith, as the trust that financially buoyed it for decades is dissolved.

Arts reporter Peter Dobrin has the details on why the site has been beloved by Philly children for decades, and the efforts to sustain it for future generations.

What’s the nickname for Dave Leonardi, the die-hard fan who’s been holding pro-Flyers signs from behind the glass for the past 50 years?

A) Sign Man

B) Fly Guy

C) The Cheerleader

D) Dave the Bully

Think you know? Check your answer.

🏀 Swiping: To decide which Sixers should stay or go.

🥟 Checking out: The burgeoning Port Richmond dining scene, including new brunch spot Miles Table.

🙏 Breathing: Easy at this “COVID-safer” arts fest.

This nonprofit in Kensington and Camden is expanding to give more young people training and work experience in tech.

POSHER WOK

Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here. Cheers to Mike McGuire, who solved Wednesday’s anagram: Chinatown. The neighborhood stars in one of the first documentary-style videos about the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Reconnecting Communities projects.

Frank Longo, 54, won the Italian Market Festival’s greased pole climbing competition three times in the ‘90s and last climbed in 2016. He shared his memories, tips, and insight with Inquirer columnist Stephanie Farr ahead of this year’s festival, in which his son, Frankie Longo Jr., will attempt to climb the greased pole: “It’s like running with the bulls,” he said. “If you can’t run and you’re afraid of bulls, don’t do it.”

Wishing you the strength to climb your own metaphorical poles today. See you back in your inbox tomorrow!

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