Calvert To Co-Host Charity Golf Tournament

Calvert County will join Montgomery and Prince George's in hosting the first Tri-County Golf Classic on Friday. Proceeds from the event at the National Golf Club at Tantallon in Fort Washington will benefit the National Kidney Foundation.

"This is not about playing golf or a tournament at all," Prince George's County Executive Jack B. Johnson said in announcing the event. "This is about affecting lives."

The event, he said, is part of the foundation's efforts to educate people about kidney disease, encourage organ donation and save lives.

Donald Shell, the Prince George's health officer, said the risk of kidney disease can be reduced by 75 percent through early diagnosis and treatment of high blood pressure and diabetes. But few people get annual checkups or ask their doctors to check protein levels in their urine, he said.

The United Network for Organ Sharing says that more than 77,000 people across the country are awaiting a kidney transplant and that more than 1,600 of them are in the Washington region.

Shell said that routine screening and treatment can prevent kidney failure. "We want people to have their kidneys checked," he said. According to Maryland statistics, he said, 30 percent of Prince George's residents have been told by their doctors that they have high blood pressure, and 10 percent have been told they have diabetes. Both illnesses, which are prevalent in the African American community, tend to cause kidney disease and renal failure.

Gloria Brooks, who is organizing the tournament, said she hopes it will encourage people to get screened for kidney disease and consider organ donation.

"My brother lived with kidney disease for several years, and I donated a kidney, which prolonged his life," Brooks said. "This tournament is a tribute to my brother."

Additional information about kidney disease and organ donation is available at http://www.kidneywdc.org. Registration information for the tournament is at http://www.thepeopleschoicellc.com.