Bone Marrow Drive at Cerritos Library

Thousands of patients with leukemia, lymphoma, sickle cell
and other life threatening diseases need a bone marrow transplant. You could be
the one to save a life. These diseases destroy the patient’s bone marrow. The purpose
of a bone marrow transplant is to put healthy stem cells in place of the
unhealthy ones. This can treat or even cure the disease.

The National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) maintains a
database of over 5 million potential donors that is accessed worldwide to find
a "perfect" match; each person searching for the light in a seemingly
infinite tunnel. However, even the world’s largest bone marrow registry cannot
save lives without the support of volunteers, including you and me.

Only two percent of our population is in the registry. The
chance for a recipient of Asian heritage to find a match is extremely low. Certain
populations are dramatically under-represented in existing bone marrow
registries. For example, the match rate within the South Asian (Bangladesh,
Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan & Sri Lanka)
demographic is critically low—with a 1 in 20,000 chance for a potential
recipient to find a match.

The number of minority participants grows continually each
year, with a parallel increase in demand. Even though family members are
screened for matches, the majority of patients require an unrelated donor.
Genetically, greater compatibility can be found within ethnic groups, thereby
enhancing the need from minorities.

Anyone in good health and between the ages of 18 and 60 can
be a donor. Participants will simply fill out a form and have a cheek swab
taken by a trained representative from the National Marrow Donor Program. No
blood is drawn and no fingers are poked.

You have the power to help save lives this holiday season.
Please stop by the Cerritos Library on Saturday, December 14th, 2013
between the hours of 10 am and 3 pm. It should only take a few minutes of your
time. This drive is being organized by Mukund Iyer, a junior at Whitney High
School. For more information about this bone marrow drive, please contact him
at mukundiyer1@gmail.com or call him at 562-412-1152.