\u201cNo one should be prevented from saving a life because of financial hardship,\u201d said State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald. \u201cThis program allows someone to become a living donor and give a part of themselves to save another.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Peter](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/5EWRTEZIGNEG7CJFY3PHFHVZLE.jpg\"\/)
Flashback to Saturday, Sept. 24, 2016: This was the street dedication of \u201cPeter Pellegrito Way\u201d at Walnut Street and Bard Avenue, the corner near where Pete lived in West Brighton.Staff-ShotA Gift Beyond Life<\/p>\n
For families of organ donors, the impact goes far beyond financial support\u2014it\u2019s deeply personal.<\/p>\n
When Santina Distefano, co-owner of Moretti Bakery in West Brighton, died in April 2022 at age 66, <\/a>her kidneys saved two fellow New York City residents.<\/p>\n \u201cAt 10:30 p.m., the whole hospital lined up against the wall and saluted my mother,\u201d said her daughter, Cinzia Leon. \u201cOur family is grieving, but we helped two other families. They said, \u2018Your mother\u2019s a hero.\u2019 That\u2019s what\u2019s helping me right now.\u201d<\/p>\n Leon added, \u201cShe never told me she was a donor, and I was so honored<\/a> to be called her daughter knowing her unselfishness to save another person when she is no longer here. She was a hero in my eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n Similar sentiments came from the Pellegrito family after 29-year-old Peter Edward Pellegrito<\/a> died from a brain aneurysm. His family discovered he was an organ donor through his driver\u2019s license. Peter\u2019s kidneys were donated to two women on Staten Island, while his corneas, liver, and heart valves helped other recipients.<\/p>\n \u201cRecipients must be registered and matched by blood type,\u201d said his mother, Susan Pellegrito. \u201cWe are happy to say that we were able to meet several of his recipients and are still in contact today.\u201d<\/p>\n The need for donors in New York remains critical. Of the 8,000 residents waiting for transplants, about 7,000 need kidneys and are surviving on dialysis. More than 520 people need liver transplants, and others await heart, lung, pancreas, or intestine transplants.<\/p>\n In 2024 alone, approximately 690 people were removed from transplant center waiting lists because they died or became too sick before compatible organs became available.<\/p>\n Living donation can help address this shortage. Kidney donations are most common, though donors may also give part of their liver, lung, pancreas, or intestine. Living donor transplants typically have better outcomes\u2014more than 98% of kidneys from living donors still function after one year.<\/p>\n How to Apply<\/p>\n To participate in the Living Donor Support Program, prospective donors must apply through their transplant center before surgery. The center will submit the application and, once approved, donors can submit reimbursement claims with receipts.<\/p>\n For more information, visit the New York State Department of Health website or email LivingDonor@health.ny.gov<\/a>.<\/p>\n If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement<\/a> and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and\/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 For Staten Islanders who believe in giving the ultimate gift, help is on the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":29598,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":["post-29597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-staten-island","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-staten-island","tag-staten-island-headlines","tag-staten-island-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29597"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29597\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Peter](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/PYKHZ5JPZ5FVNPHQSTH4JKHJJ4.jpg\"\/)
Peter Pellegrito\u2019s gift of life: After his sudden passing at 29, his organs helped multiple recipients\u2014including two women on Staten Island.Staff-Shot<\/p>\n![\"Santina](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/H4GNMLGBMZAJHMJ75XTIS6JK5M.jpeg\"\/)
Santina Distefano\u2019s legacy lives on: After her passing at 66, her kidneys saved two lives\u2014an act her family calls heroic.The Urgent Need<\/p>\n