Steven publicly asked for help reaching potential living donors.
Impact story · Garden City, Kansas
Steven Mills’ Living Kidney Donor Search
Josh Liljenquist met Steven Mills, documented his need for a living kidney donor, and connected the story to public fundraising and donor awareness.
Sitewide aggregate figures use the July 19, 2026 reporting baseline. KMBC reported that the public fundraiser had raised more than $55,000 as of August 7, 2026. Live totals may continue to change.
One story · Multiple sources
This page is the canonical record for the underlying impact story. Publisher articles and distinct broadcast appearances remain separate evidence and Media records.
Story summary
A donor search supported by direct help, public attention, and independent reporting.
Steven Mills is a pastor in Garden City, Kansas, who publicly described needing a living kidney donor. Josh met Steven, offered immediate support, documented the encounter in an original first-party video, and helped direct attention to the donor search and fundraiser.
Josh documented the meeting and connected viewers with ways to support the search.
KMBC reported this dated fundraiser milestone as of August 7, 2026.
Impact timeline
One evolving record, with each source kept in its proper role.
The timeline separates Josh’s first-party encounter, fundraiser support, publisher coverage, and the last verified donor-search status.
- Josh met Steven in Garden City.
The original first-party video documents their conversation about the need for a living donor and financial pressure.
- Immediate support and a fundraiser followed.
Josh offered direct help and asked his audience to support Steven through the public fundraiser and donor search.
- KAKE and Charisma documented the early response.
KAKE published the first local report on August 3, and Charisma published independent coverage on August 4.
- KAKE aired a distinct follow-up report.
The August 7 follow-up is preserved as the separate JL-098 Media appearance as well as a written publisher source.
- KMBC documented a later milestone.
KMBC reported on August 9 that the fundraiser had raised more than $55,000 as of August 7 and that a donor had not been found at that time.
Supporting publisher coverage
Seven publisher records document the same underlying story.
These sources remain publisher-owned articles or broadcast companions. Their short summaries identify what each contributes without reproducing the articles.
First local report
KAKE introduced Steven’s living-donor need, Josh’s original encounter, and the newly launched fundraiser.
Independent response coverage
Charisma reported on the campaign’s early fundraising response and Steven’s continuing donor search.
International Spanish-language coverage
BibliaTodo reported in Spanish on the fundraising response and Steven’s continuing need for a kidney transplant.
Follow-up and broadcast source
KAKE’s follow-up documented the continuing search and serves as the official source for the distinct JL-098 appearance.
Written companion and live segment
One KMBC publisher page contains both WEB-102’s written coverage and the distinct JL-097 live television segment.
Donor-search and fundraiser coverage
The Native Voice covered Steven’s living-kidney-donor search, his Kansas City radio background, Josh’s outreach, and the online fundraiser.
Later donor-search coverage
Unheard Voices Magazine documented Steven’s continuing search for a living kidney donor and the public outreach around it.
Related Media appearances
Distinct broadcasts retain distinct archive identities.
JL-097 · KMBCKMBC 9 live segment
Open the archive record and official publisher-controlled viewing route.
JL-098 · KAKEKAKE News reportOpen the separate KAKE broadcast appearance and source record.
Supporting appearanceNewsmax2’s The PulseReview the broader mission interview that also discussed Steven’s donor search.
Public fundraiser
Support Steven Mills’ Fight for Life and Stability
The fundraiser remains the public destination for its current total, organizer updates, and campaign status.
Dated evidence boundary
KMBC reported more than $55,000 raised as of August 7, 2026. That is a historical observation, not a live total.
Documented outcome and update
Public support grew; the donor result remains unverified here.
The documented outcome is increased awareness, a public fundraising response, and multiple independent news reports about the donor search.
Last verified donor status
KMBC reported on August 9 that no donor had been found at that time. This page does not claim a later medical outcome. A future verified update should enrich this canonical record rather than create a competing story.
In His Own Words
Steven Mills’ firsthand editorials
Steven Mills later wrote about his own experience after Josh and his team visited him.
Read Steven Mills’ first-person accountReturn to the complete canonical story library.
MediaBrowse independent coverageExplore public publisher and appearance records.
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See every documented follow-up
What this page establishes and does not establish
What this establishes
The approved public record, status label, and dated metrics presented on this canonical story page.
What this does not establish
The page does not claim a later donor or medical outcome. The last verified public report said no donor had been found at that time. A public story does not establish private financial records, every later interaction, or a complete lifetime accounting.
Evidence, sources, and documentation
Documentation note
How this story was prepared.
This page uses Josh’s verified first-party video transcript, the public fundraiser, and source-attributed BibliaTodo, Charisma, KAKE, KMBC, The Native Voice, Unheard Voices Magazine, and Media archive records. It omits unnecessary private medical and family information, keeps changing figures dated, and does not treat publisher pages as separate Impact stories.
Video source records, transcript status, and rights
Josh Video Library sources
Verified videos and transcripts
These approved source records support this canonical Impact story without creating a competing story route. Approved public-readable transcripts are available below.
JVL-V-000073 · fundraising and community support
Steven: Fundraising And Community Support
Captioned video in the Josh Liljenquist (Joshlilj) library centered on fundraising and community support.
Open the verified YouTube source
Read accessible transcript (21 timestamped sections)
This cleaned public-readable transcript preserves the spoken substance. Punctuation, caption artifacts, repeated caption holds, and accidental private-contact exposure were reviewed. 8 source uncertainty markers are preserved rather than guessed.
[00:00–00:05] Can I help you with the? Sure. Yeah? What do you got? This is what keeps me alive. You're kidding.
[00:05–00:13] 'm in complete renal failure. In in comeurte renal. 'm in complete renal. My kidneys have completely ouit working. My kidneys have completely quit working completely quit working. And I have to rely on this stuff here to...
[00:13–00:21] Only to live. I have this little tube. Whoa. Comes out of my abdomen. And then it goes into the little machine. [Unclear caption at source; exact wording requires source-level review.]
[00:22–00:33] And I do that three to four times a day. How much is it? $2,500 dollars. 13.000 a month sometimes. Have you had to dip into your retirementy. Oh it's gone.
[00:33–00:38] It's gone?! Every bit of it. $300.000 dollars. So you drained your retirement to stay aline? So you drained your to stay alive? retirement. So you drained your retirement to stay alive?
[00:38–00:45] Yes sir. God has us and I know that. I have to trust that. I have to get a kidney transplant. And I ve had a bone marrow transplant. [Unclear caption at source; exact wording requires source-level review.]
[00:45–00:53] So because of that bone marrow transplant. [Unclear caption at source; exact wording requires source-level review.] T makes it a little harder. [Unclear caption at source; exact wording requires source-level review.] The donor has to be somebody living. Do you worke?
[00:53–00:59] I am a pastor at a small church here. O an a castch hera small. If you don't mind me asking. How much do you bring in a? $2,500 dollars. And how much do you usually spend a month?
[00:59–01:10] It can be $3,000 or $4,000 dollars in a month. Sometimes there's a deficit and I have to catch up. There are times when there is like. Notices to. [Unclear caption at source; exact wording requires source-level review.] It happens.
[01:10–01:18] If you don't have enough b money to pay for this dyi. What happens? It doesn't come. And what would happen if it dion it come? Garden City. Well then I would perish.
[01:18–01:25] [Uncertain caption: I would de garden city] Oy chen all the money goes out for dialysis. Lar there's still rent to pay. Garden City commission. Um you know. Are you behind? Garden City commission?
[01:25–01:32] I am Garden City commission. I have a child and then I have my niece. Why is your niece living with you? Her momis having some struggle. She needs this. And uh.
[01:32–01:45] You can't even afford to pay your dialysis dude. God held the 99 to go back and get the 1. Amen. And so that's what I will always do. You know I may have months that I can t pay. But look atlave the over.
[01:45–01:55] That god is doing in our. What would help take some of the pressure off of you? First and foremost a kidney. Feve don tane o bianesis. Cause if I have a kidney then I don't need dialysis. How can I go check ie I can donate my kidney?
[01:55–02:03] There is a link on a website. It'll ask you for my date of birth. Which is: 12 / 23 / 1977. You have to know my name: Steven Mills. And they viu conrage von. No when you can register nd they will contact you.
[02:05–02:12] And then viu conrage voo. My daughter is 13 I need to be here when she has prom. And when she gets married. And I need to be here for. And I need thef were for. Does it scarf you that you?
[02:12–02:23] Does it scare you that you might not be? It is the most unseltling feeling in the world. How much money would you need to get by? Before you get a kidney? I ve been waiting now for 20 months. And the average is 60 to 70 months.
[02:23–02:33] Well that's so more months. [Unclear caption at source; exact wording requires source-level review.] That's a lot. So Steven. I know this isn't gonna solve all your problems. But I came here with $500 dollars.
[02:33–02:42] I wanna give to you. Please use this to take please use this to take some of the pressure off. Steven I actually have over 30 million followers. And I think mn followers would love to come together. And help you. To be able to.
[02:42–02:55] Just know that I’m gonna be able to be here. To support my family it would mean the world. It's not over brother. Amen. Thank you. [Unclear caption at source; exact wording requires source-level review.]
[02:55–02:59] 2. support through GoFundMe.
Source and rights status
Source: Josh Liljenquist / Joshlilj. Video ID: JVL-V-000073. Rights state: OWNED.
Transcript status: Cleaned public-readable HTML transcript approved through the Josh Video Library handoff. No synchronized VTT or SRT track is claimed unless separately identified.