Thousands of patients with blood cancers like leukemia and lymphoma, sickle cell and other life-threatening diseases need a bone marrow or umbilical cord blood transplant. They depend on Be The Match Registry® to find a match — someone like you. Each year, 10,000 patients in the US are in a desperate search for a matching donor. YOU could be their match, their hope, their cure!
For a successful transplant, a patient needs a matching donor. If you are between the ages of 18 and 44, patients especially need you. It’s easy. Swab your cheek, fill out a form and join the Registry. It takes ten minutes to join, but can give a lifetime back to a patient. If/when you do become a donor (1 in 3500 chance), they give you medicine to increase your bone marrow production and they are then able to draw it out of your arm like giving blood. No more awful shots in the hip. Becoming a bone marrow donor has become a much easier way to help others.
Because the markers used in matching are inherited, patients are more likely to match someone from their own ancestry. Adding more donors from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds to the Be The Match Registry increases the likelihood that all patients will find the match they need. If you are from one of the following communities, you are especially encouraged to join the Be The Match Registry: Black and African American, American Indian and Alaska Native, Asian, including South Asian, Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander,Hispanic and Latino or Multiple race.
Join the Registry TODAY at O’Leary’s Restaurant in downtown DeKalb. Between 5pm – 8pm on Thursday, March 21st, you can join the Be The Match Registry® at O’Leary’s Restaurant in downtown DeKalb. Upstairs in their banquet room the Rock River Valley Blood Center will be signing people up. To join at the drive you only need to between the ages of 18 and 44, be willing to donate to any patient in need and meet the health guidelines. Appetizers and soft drinks will be available while you register. O’Leary’s Restaurant is located at 260 E. Lincoln Highway in DeKalb. Visit their website to learn more.
Watch the video below to see how easy it is!
Click Here To Submit A News Tip Or Story