By Jeff Small, KSDK-TV, September 27, 2007

There were tears and laughter at very special party Thursday night in St. Louis. It was an event to honor and say thank you to living organ donors.

The theme of the party was "Giving for Living." It was Barnes-Jewish Hospitals way of saying thank you for those giving the gift of life and the doctors and staff who help make it possible.

Maria Eberhardt and Breeyen Black are friends who consider themselves family. Two women who until four years ago were strangers, when Breeyen was in desperate need of a transplant. "I thought it was never gonna happen and it''s something you never get used to," says Black.

Then came along Maria Eberhart who wanted to donate one of her kidneys anonymously. "They asked if I had in mind someone specifically and i said, no, if I have something a person can use, then God just gave me an extra."

The living donation was just in time to keep a young but struggling woman alive. Black says, "I feel like once I received my kidney transplant I was given my life back, and it is so true, because a lot of people don''t survive."

It''s because of a growing number of stories like that Barnes decided to give thanks to those who make the donations possible.

Last year, there were 154 kidney transplants at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. 61 of those transplanted organs came from living donors.

Patients forced to wait on organs from deceased donors, spend an average of four to five years on a waiting list. Many don''t survive.

For more information about living organ donation, call 1 (866) 867-3627.