ABC-13 Month to Match
The 5th annual Month to Match is an opportunity for you to make a difference in someone's life. During the month of September, ABC-13 partners with Be The Match national registry to encourage people to donate bone marrow. Just a swab of the cheek is all it takes to get registered and if you're a match, donating can be a non-surgical, outpatient procedure similar to donating platelets or plasma. Patients with leukemia and other life-threatening diseases who have no matching donor in their family turn to Be The Match for a second chance at life. Because of you, more patients will be able to receive a lifesaving transplant. You never know when you could be the cure, join Be The Match Registry today.
From Be The Match: www.bethematch.org
- The age for registering to donate is from 18 to 44, those who are older are encouraged to volunteer or donate money. Funds raised help patients struggling with uninsured transplant costs. Doctors request younger donors over 90% of the time. They provide the best chance for transplant success. Marrow matches are based on ethnic heritage, so patients are most likely to match someone who shares their ancestry.
- 70% of patients needing a marrow transplant do not have a matching donor in their family. A patient's likelihood of finding a matching donor on the Be The Match Registry is estimated at up to 97% depending on race and ethnicity.
- Every four minutes, one person is diagnosed with blood cancer. Every 10 minutes, someone dies from a blood cancer.
- Be The Match Registry is operated by the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP), a nonprofit organization that's dedicated to creating an opportunity for all patients to receive marrow when they need it.
- Every year, more than 12,000 patients in the U.S. are diagnosed with life-threatening diseases such as leukemia or lymphoma, and their best or only hope of a cure is a transplant from an unrelated adult donor or umbilical code blood unit.
STORIES OF DONATIONS
You can get on the registry by going to any Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center facilities or attend one of the events we've listed below. Once on the registry, you might get the call to save someone's life!
For more information or questions about donations click here.
4TH ANNUAL TEXAS CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL PATIENT WALK (not open to the public)
Date: Friday, September 9, 2016
Location: TCH; 16th Floor; Bone Marrow Transplant Unit
1ST ANNUAL LACE UP FOR LIFE
Date: Saturday, September 10, 2016, event village opens at 6:30am
Location: Sugar Land Town Square
15958 City Walk
Sugar Land, TX 77479
Website: BeTheMatchWalkRun.org
The 1st Annual "Lace Up 4 Life" 5K, 1K and Tot Trot are scheduled to take place on Saturday, September 10, 2016 with the 5K kicking off at 7:30 am, 1K at 7:35 am and Tot Trot at 8:15 am. We encourage families, teams, runners, walkers and tots to come out and join us for the run/walk and for a post-race celebration with refreshments and entertainment.
KENDRA SCOTT GIVES BACK
Date: September 26, 2016, 4pm - 6pm
Location: Kendra Scott Rice Village
2411 Times Blvd.
20% of all proceeds during this time will be donated to the Gulf Coast Marrow Donor Program
Dr. Susan Rossmann is the Chief Medical Officer of the Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center, Houston. She is currently President of America's Blood Centers, and will be answering your questions during our live web chat on Bone Marrow Donations.
Dr. Rossmann received her M.D. from Baylor College of Medicine, is board-certified in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology with a specialty in Blood Banking and Transfusion Medicine, and holds a Ph.D. in Biological Anthropology from the University of Michigan and an AB in History from Mount Holyoke College.
