ow, I know I usually make lists or talk about my family. I’m not going to do that today. Today, I have an even more important thing to talk about and that is the organization that I’ve recently found myself president of. Be The Match is not, surprisingly to most, a dating organization. We don’t do speed dating, we don’t set people up, and you’re not more likely to find the love of your life if you join (as far as I know, anyways).
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Be The Match is a partner organization to the Bone Marrow Registry and hospitals all over the country. Our organization fights to advance the science of transplants and save the lives of patients with life-threatening blood cancers such as leukemia, lymphoma, and other diseases.
Every three minutes, a child or adult is diagnosed with a life-threatening blood cancer like leukemia or lymphoma. For many of them, a marrow transplant is their only hope for a cure. These facts are not only very true, but they can also cause a great change if taken to heart. Be The Match accepts donations of money and time, as well as donations of the bodily variety such as bone marrow, PBSC, and cord blood donations.
A few facts about Be The Match can explain what it is that we do and why donating to the Bone Marrow Registry is something everyone should consider. Donors between 18 and 44 provide the greatest chance for transplant success, which means that young donors are the ones most likely to be called because their bone marrow and blood provide the highest chance for success.
Patients are more likely to match someone of the same ancestry, meaning that Caucasian donors are more likely to get a match than African American donors because fewer donors of African American ancestry have joined the registry. Members who are more ethnically diverse are desperately needed because fewer take the chance to join the registry and because of this, fewer matches are found.
Donors are carefully pre-screened to ensure that they are healthy and the procedure, whether it’s bone marrow or blood given, is safe for them. Donors also never pay to donate marrow, all travel costs are reimbursed and all medical costs are covered by Be The Match. We rely mostly on financial contributions and the willingness of others to keep our organization going, a method which has treated us well since our beginning.
There are many ways which you can help our cause, even if donation isn’t an option. We accept fundraising, volunteerism, word-of-mouth, and other helpful contributions from those who wish to further our cause. No matter what you do, it helps to add to the list of patients who have been saved by a donation from members of our organization.
I, as a member and now USI’s chapter president, have already seen countless lives saved and heard so many stories of donors and patients meeting. Just this past Monday, I had the chance to meet two donors who are now the presidents of their respective chapters of Be The Match and see a video made by another school in my state. So many people have their own stories about Be The Match and their donations--my hope is to be able to encourage more.
If you would like to learn more about Be The Match or see how it can change and save lives, I hope you will take the chance to look through the links below. Please consider becoming a donor and even if you can’t, I hope learning about Be The Match will change your life for the better. Thank you for listening.
If you would like to learn more or join, click here and here.
If you would like to hear donor stories and how Be The Match helps, check out these headlines.
Clemson student has chance to save toddler’s life as bone-marrow donor
Taking Pride in saving lives – Danny’s story
Be the Match Addresses Health Disparities
Moline native gets to meet man whose life he saved
Woodlander takes bone marrow crusade to Capitol
Be The Match - Aria and Tyler for BSUDM
