VOLUNTEER DONOR DRIVE TO BE HELD FOR 6 YEAR OLD

    The Cooperative Appalachian Marrow Program (CAMP) will hold a marrow and blood stem cell donor recruitment drive at First Missionary Baptist Church in Franklin, TN. on Saturday, December 6, 2003 from 11:00 am until 4:00 pm in honor of Chyanna Alexander.  Chyanna, a Franklin, TN resident was diagnosed in January 2001 with Neuroblastoma, a cancerous tumor predominately found in early childhood.  Everything seemed to be fine with Chyanna, she continued her life as a normal young girl who loves to play with her Barbie dolls and stuffed animals, until July of this year.  Then, she and her family received some devastating news:  Chyanna had developed Myelodysplasia, a disease that progresses to a form of leukemia.  Now her hope for survival is a bone marrow or blood stem cell transplant from an unrelated donor.
 
Thousands of Black and African American patients suffer from life-threatening diseases such as leukemia, aplastic anemia or inherited immune system and genetic disorders.  Many of these diseases are curable with a treatment called bone marrow or blood stem cell transplantation.  In a bone marrow or blood stem cell  Donor Drive diseased bone marrow of a patient is replaced with healthy marrow or with the important small immature cells found in the marrow called stem cells.

While patients of any racial or ethnic heritage may have difficulty finding a donor, Black and African American patients face the greatest challenge.  Unfortunately, only about 30 percent of the patients who need a transplant will have a family member who is a match and is able to donate bone marrow or blood stem cells.   For thousands of people who do not have a genetically matched relative, a volunteer unrelated donor must be found.  The National Marrow Donor Program® (NMDP) maintains a Registry of volunteers who have agreed to donate marrow or blood stem cells if ever matched with a patient in need of a transplant.  The NMDP has facilitated more than 16,000 unrelated donor blood stem cell transplants for patients who did not have a matching donor in their family.  The NMDP Donor Registry is the largest and most racially diverse registry in the world - a confidential listing of more than 5 million volunteers.  The NMDP currently facilitates more than 170 transplants each month.

In order to join the NMDP as a potential donor, volunteers must be between the ages of 18 and 60 and in good general health.  After completing a consent form and health questionnaire, a small sample of blood (about 2 tablespoons) is taken from the volunteer.   From the blood sample, a volunteer's genetic "tissue type" is obtained.   This "type" is entered into the NMDP Registry and is available for patients around the world as they search for a match.  No actual bone marrow or blood stem cells are taken from a volunteer during the donor recruitment drive. When a volunteer from our community is identified as a match for a patient, our center guides the donor through every step of the donation process.