On Sunday, October 2, people gathered at City Park in Denver, Colorado, for the National Kidney Foundation’s (NKF) Denver Kidney Walk. This marked the first time in more than two years that the walk could be held in-person due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Participants who raised money had the choice to run or walk a 5K route through the park or walk a shorter one-mile route around Ferril Lake while wearing stickers honoring those they walked for.

DaVita’s chief medical officer, Dr. Jeff Giullian, served as one of the event’s chairs—along with Jeff Cohn, a 2021 kidney transplant recipient, and Dr. Scott Davis, a transplant nephrologist.

“I walk for three simple reasons,” Dr. Giullian said at the event. “One is to bring us one step closer to making the lives of people living with kidney disease a little bit better. The next is to bring us one step closer to making access to kidney transplants easier for those who need it. And the third reason that I walk today is to bring us one step closer to curing chronic kidney disease.”

The DaVita team of walkers was the largest at the event, raising nearly $30,000 of the event’s total of $155,250. The money raised at this—and the rest of the 70 kidney walks held across the country this year—will support NKF’s efforts in kidney disease research, patient services, education and community service.