When Dwight Epperson, who operates 13 stores in Louisiana, learned that Carlos Jacobs, one of his store managers was suffering from kidney failure, he stepped right up to be tested as a donor. Epperson was touched to learn that Jacobs' sister died a few years ago after several years of dialysis treatment and wanted to give his employee a chance for a better life.

Sure enough, Epperson was deemed a good match and surgery was scheduled at Willis-Knighton Regional Transplant Center in Shreveport, LA. Epperson's wife had a really tough time getting used to the idea that her husband was donating one of his kidneys, but he jokingly reassured her that if she needed a kidney, one of their eight children would give her one. Their children convinced her that everything would be okay and that this was the right thing to do.

"If I was sick like that, I would hope that someone would step up and give me a hand. It is so much easier to successfully donate organs these days with all of the advancements in medicine," said Epperson, a Jiffy Lube franchisee of six years. "Carlos has been a good manager and leader for four years. I just want him to have a better life. Even if he doesn't keep working for me very long, there are no obligations even though I donated one of my kidneys to him."