Recognizing Ms. Maria Elena Grijalva

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Mr. VALADAO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Maria Elena Grijalva as she receives the Celeste Castillo Lee Patient Engagement Award from the National Kidney Foundation. Maria's advocacy began 36 years ago, when her own kidneys began to fail, and she found herself in need of a donor. Her brother, John Arriola, volunteered to become a donor without hesitation. While the average life expectancy for someone living with a kidney transplant is between 12 and 20 years, Maria has been going strong with her transplant for 36 years--a testament to Maria's resiliency that she has displayed throughout all aspects of her life. The National Kidney Foundation (NKF) is the largest organization dedicated to the awareness, prevention, and treatment of kidney disease in the United States. Each year, the NKF considers the efforts of advocates like Maria, and patients who work on behalf of others, recognizing the one advocate who best exemplifies the work of longtime advocate Celeste Castillo Lee. This year, Maria was selected as the recipient of the Celeste Castillo Lee Patient Engagement Award for her decades of dedication and commitment to advocating for patient-centered care and empowerment. Today, Maria and John work together to help others facing the same situation they faced over 30 years ago. Maria also devotes many of her efforts to educating Native Americans and farmworkers in the agricultural communities in California to raise awareness among high-risk populations about kidney health, disease, and prevention measures. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues in the United States House of Representatives to join me in honoring Maria Elena Grijalva as she receives the Celeste Castillo Lee Patient Engagement Award from the National Kidney Foundation.

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