When I think about the journey we started with our son Evan almost five years ago, I would never have believed that in six months we would lose our vibrant 9 year old boy, that I could actually survive the worst loss a person could endure, and that I could then be blessed by the grace of God to start Evan's foundation and with the help of all of you we would make an incredible impact for people around the globe. 

     In the last newsletter I reported 21 perfect matches that we "knew" about, many of our events are not trackable, but now in the course of three weeks, we have three young men donating. I knew in time that with the almost 15,000 donors we have placed on the registry, eventually we would see donor matches increasing as time went on. And that day is finally here.

When we started this venture, I would put beg and plead for people to swab their cheek with us, but now, smarter and wiser, our goal is to "stop" anyone who is not committed to saving a life through bone marrow donation from swabbing. Our target audience is now young, healthy, diverse, available (meaning they will say "YES" if called upon) potential donors, and over 90% of our donor matches have been just that.

      On January 31st, Brian donated via peripheral blood stem cell collection in Washington DC, since he is part of the military, in the ROTC program of the U of Minnesota, where Evan was transplanted. He joined the registry at our annual Hope Kids Festival, made possible by the student athletes each year. Brian is very excited he had the privilege of being a donor and we hope to work with him at the U to add additional donors to the registry.

Rob joined the registry in March of last year, at Valparaiso University while in nursing school. He was "startled" to get the call so soon after joining, as he knew the chances of matching a patient were slim.  Rob donated earlier this week in Indiana via PBSC. Rob now works as a nurse in Chicago and knows that without individuals like himself sharing their vital resources, medical professionals cannot do their job!

Kyle Struthers, a family friend, swabbed his cheek a few years back. He will be donating via PBSC, as well, on February 21st. Mom Tara, my good friend also a nurse, will be giving Kyle his injections starting tomorrow. She texted me a picture yesterday of the medication she received via Fed Ex, telling me that the "lifesaving has begun". Looking forward to hearing Kyle's account of his donation.  

Consider hosting a marrow registry at your campsite at your city's "Relay for Life". This is the perfect venue to educate, provide awareness, and then the opportunity for your community to join the marrow registry. I think is is important for people who are connected to "cancer" for one reason or another and are willing to raise money for the American Cancer Society, that they understand that without them sharing their vital resources in the form of blood, marrow, cord blood and organs/tissues, cancer patients will not have a fighting chance. Help this community take the next step and actively "save lives" by providing them to a location to swab their cheek and become a potential bone marrow donor.  

Contact Gina for more info and to discuss getting approval to host marrow registry at your relay.