Bone Marrow Testing Program

About the Program

The Brentwood Rotary Club sponsored its first volunteer Bone Marrow Donor Recruitment Drive on Saturday, November 15th, 1997 at the Brentwood High School between 7 a.m. and 2 p.m. Subsidies from the Brentwood Rotary Club and the Leukemia Society along with donations from people tested and in-kind contributions paid for the $65/person cost of testing and helped to make the program a success.

The program was publicized through news releases, churches and schools. Thanks to one of our sponsors, all donors were eligible to win a round trip airline ticket on Continental Airlines to any location in the 48 contiguous states.

Program Results

Nearly two hundred fifty (250) people were tested during the drive. Sixty six organ donor cards were signed. At least two volunteers who participated in the drive were contacted as possible matches for people in need, but additional testing ruled them both out. The odds are 20,000 to one that someone will be a match for someone else.

About Fatal Blood Disease

Every year, more than 30,000 children and adults in the United States are diagnosed with fatal blood diseases such as leukemia. For many of these patients, a bone marrow transplant is the only cure. However, such a transplant is possible only when the patient and donor have matching marrow types.

Nearly thirty percent of the patients in need will find a matched donor within their family. The other seventy percent of patients must search for an unrelated donor. These patients will turn to the National Marrow Donor Program's (NMDP) Registry of volunteer marrow donors in the hope of finding a match.

Anyone between the ages of eighteen and sixty, in good general health and not excessively overweight can potentially become a volunteer marrow donor. After being educated about the donation process and signing a consent form, volunteers give a small blood sample that will be tested for marrow type and listed on the NMDP Registry.

If a volunteer donor matches any of the patients searching the NMDP Registry, he or she must first agree to become a donor. The marrow is then collected from the rear of the pelvis in a simple surgical procedure performed under anesthesia, and the donor usually stays overnight in the hospital. Within several weeks, the donor's body naturally replenishes the donated marrow.

For More Information

For more information about the donation process or how to become a volunteer marrow donor, contact the Brentwood Rotary Club or call NMDP at 242-7993.