--- title: Hooters Waitress Donates Kidney to Customer description: Roswell, Georgia, Hooters waitress donates kidney to a customer. canonical: https://time.com/3901621/hooters-customer-kidney/ author: Olivia B. Waxman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-05-29T16:57:55.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:43:36.687Z og:title: Hooters Waitress Donates Kidney to Customer og:description: Roswell, Georgia, Hooters waitress donates kidney to a customer. og:url: https://time.com/3901621/hooters-customer-kidney/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Hooters Waitress Donates Kidney to Customer twitter:description: Roswell, Georgia, Hooters waitress donates kidney to a customer. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Hooters Waitress Donates Kidney to Customer > Sponsored content. 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Waxman Staff Writer May 29, 2015 4:57 PM UTC  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer May 29, 2015 4:57 PM UTC This weekend, a Hooters waitress is donating a kidney to one of the restaurant’s regular customers, Atlanta news station [11 Alive reports](http://www.11alive.com/story/news/local/roswell/2015/05/28/hooters-waitress-donates-kidney/28123695/). Don Thomas lost kidney function due to cancer, and Mariana Villarreal, who works at the Roswell, Ga., franchise, was inspired to donate because her grandma recently died of kidney failure. “I wasn’t able to do anything for my grandma,” she told [11 Alive](http://www.11alive.com/story/news/local/roswell/2015/05/28/hooters-waitress-donates-kidney/28123695/), but “if \[Don\] can live two more years, happy as he’s ever been, that’s fine with me.” It is not the first time a stranger has donated a kidney to someone in need. [TIME recently reported](http://time.com/3839526/woman-kidney-donor-reddit/) that a woman found her kidney donor on Reddit. The successful transplant surgery took place in Augusta, Ga., and the two are now close friends. _Read next:_ [_How a Woman Found Her Kidney Donor on Reddit_](http://time.com/3839526/woman-kidney-donor-reddit/) ### See the 10 Healthiest Cities to Live in America  Honolulu, Hawaii Best Place for Lifelong Health The heavenly climate helps, but the key to well-being here also includes enviable health care and a rich cultural tradition of looking out for one another. Colin Anderson—Blend Images/Corbis  San Francisco Bay Area, Calif. Best Place for Eating Right. The "farm to table" movement began here. The region's bounty of produce and year-round growing season make eating healthy—and local—a natural. Getty Images  Burlington, Vt. Best Place for Raising Healthy Kids This New England city offers great schools, excellent pediatric care, loads of culture and limitless options for healthy outdoor fun all year long. Matt Hogan/www.mphoganphoto.com  Silicon Valley, Calif. Best Place for Workplace Wellness With treadmill desks, meetings on bikes, time off for creativity, and gobs of organic food, tech titans are reinventing how to stay healthy on the job. Jim Wilson—The New York Times/Redux  Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn. Best Place for Aging Well Yes, it can be cold. But with a plethora of stimulating activities and a robust web of support, the Twin Cities prove that growing old doesn't mean slowing down. Getty Images  Denver and Boulder, Colo. Best Place for Keeping Fit The urge to get outside and get moving is contagious in these Rocky Mountain cities, where physical challenge is built into the landscape. Celin Serbo—Aurora Photos/Corbis  Plano, Texas Best Place for Staying Safe Once a rural outpost, this booming, diverse city has kept its small-town vibe, thanks in part to a police force and community that knows how to work together. Misty Keasler—Redux for TIME  Portland, Ore. Best Place for a Healthy Environment Small, walkable neighborhoods, 300 miles of bike paths, and urban policies that foster active living and sustainability make for one clean, green city. Getty Images  Boston, Mass. Best Place for Health Care This history-rich city is home to some of the nation's most advanced medical institutions and policies that help ensure that quality care is available to all. K.C. Cohen—Courtesy of Boston Children's Hospital  Provo and Orem, Utah Best Place for Spiritual Well-Being A stunning Rocky Mountain backdrop and a tight-knit population that lives its faith contribute not only to this region's serenity but also to lower rates of disease. 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