Roland Martinez
Age 53 • San Antonio, Texas • Featured on April 6, 2010
Cooking up Donations Any Way He Can
Roland Martinez is a 53-year-old dialysis patient who currently lives in San Antonio, Texas. Roland was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease (CKD) due to high blood pressure and started receiving in-center hemodialysis four years ago at Fresenius Medical Care Alamo City.
Born and raised in San Antonio, Roland has always been gracious in helping those around him by continuing to give back to the community and staying involved with his large network of close friends. Whether it’s CKD, diabetes, cancer or any illness, Roland makes a concerted effort to help people in any way. Roland is a patient representative at his clinic to help address the concerns of other patients. In the past, he has volunteered for various fundraisers to help serve the medical community. In October 2009, Roland was the team captain for the National Kidney Foundation Kidney Walk in San Antonio, and his team raised over $7,000 at a BBQ in a local park.
Roland has been married for 25 years and has two daughters and two stepchildren. All together, he has eight grandchildren and is very close to them all. As a drummer for a local band, “Tribute Band,” Roland plays a variety of music from R&B to Oldies to Tejano. He was inducted into the Tejano Roots Hall of Fame in the 1990s. Roland loves to travel with his band to promote his music and has used the Fresenius Medical Care Patient Travel Service to arrange for treatments in California, New Mexico and Arizona.
Roland plans to organize a dance fundraiser to raise money for the National Kidney Foundation Kidney Walk this coming October. He is also planning to travel to Espanola, N.M., to promote the Tribute Band’s latest CD within the next month. Roland enjoys playing music that makes people happy.
