Every day there are thousands of people waiting for some kind of transplant to save their life. 30% of people in need find a donor from within their own family. 70% need the help of a stranger.
Right now, NASCAR is paying the $52 tissue typing cost for anyone who meets the eligibility criteria for the National Marrow Donor Program. A bone marrow transplant is often the only option people with Leukemia and Lymphoma have left to live. Donor's don't even have to be a "perfect match", but a patient does need a donor whose cells are as close to theirs as possible. We did the tissue typing this week. It's as simple as swiping 4 cotton swabs across the inside of your cheek, closing the envelope and dropping it in a mailbox. The eligibility determination is done on-line. It takes 10 solid minutes. If you pass, they send the typing kit to you in the mail. You send it back. You're on the Registry.
Right now, NASCAR is paying the $52 tissue typing cost for anyone who meets the eligibility criteria for the National Marrow Donor Program. A bone marrow transplant is often the only option people with Leukemia and Lymphoma have left to live. Donor's don't even have to be a "perfect match", but a patient does need a donor whose cells are as close to theirs as possible. We did the tissue typing this week. It's as simple as swiping 4 cotton swabs across the inside of your cheek, closing the envelope and dropping it in a mailbox. The eligibility determination is done on-line. It takes 10 solid minutes. If you pass, they send the typing kit to you in the mail. You send it back. You're on the Registry.
Go to www.marrow.org. Look for the "Event's" box on the right side and click on "NASCAR Foundation Drive". The drive ends Sept. 22.
If your readers are still interested in helping out now that the NASCAR drive is over, there's another charity they might find interesting: Gift of Life is a bone marrow and cord blood registry, much like marrow.org.
ReplyDeleteWhat makes them really amazing is how they use social media like blogs to get the word out. Since you blogged about a similar charity, I thought you'd want to learn about this one.
Thanks
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