SM: What led to your participation with the National Kidney Foundation’s work?
Deana Carter: It became dear to me because my father, Fred Carter Jr., had a kidney transplant in 1994. He was 60 at the time and it all happened around Christmas, so it will have been 12 years in December. I’ve seen how much it’s done for him, and over those years I’ve tried to bring about even more organ donation awareness. His life was literally saved by the generosity of someone who gave him a new kidney.

SM: What was it like to wait for an available organ?
Deana Carter: My dad was on the list for almost a year and the wait was hell.

SM: Was he scared to undergo the transplant?
Deana Carter: He was grateful. He was flown in a crop-duster from Louisiana to Nashville and the flight was probably worse than the operation, but he was surprised and happy.