Please consider reposting. Thank you. Do not underestimate the power of making yourself heard.

This is the second US bone marrow drive in which I will assist, and I look forward to meeting you and answering questions. This type of drive is not done in Quebec, despite how effective it can be. A person can match another person anywhere in the world, so off I go.


When someone needs a bone marrow transplant and none of their family members are a match, the registry searches for a donor whose tissue type profile is compatible. 70% of people requiring a transplant need an unrelated donor.


Representatives of the National Marrow Donor Program and volunteers from the fannish community will be running an information table and registry drive. Registration itself is simple and painless: all you have to do is swab your cheek and fill out a form. To register you must be between the ages of 18 and 60 and in general good health.

Legislators in several US states have passed laws that make it mandatory for most insurance companies operating in these states to pay the cost of registration. Please bring your health insurance card with you. If you live in RI, NH, or MA you can register at this event at no cost.

More than 35,000 patients per year, many of them children, are diagnosed with diseases treatable by marrow or stem cell transplant. These diseases include leukemia, lymphoma and other cancers and genetic diseases.

A person looking for a stem cell match may find one potential donor in a pool of 20,000, or 1,000,000, or more. The most likely match for someone is a person of the same or a similar ethnic background. No one is guaranteed a match, regardless of background, but ethnic minorities are especially underrepresented and patients have even less chance of finding a matching donor, since ethnicity plays a critical role in increased chnces of matching. Then they have to hope that person is on the registry. You might be the match necessary to save a life.

Many people do not consider donating because they may not know they can help, but also because they have misconceptions about the donation process. The drive is a great venue for getting your questions answered.

The inspiration for this drive is the thousands of people who are waiting on any given day for a donor.


One of them was Emru Townsend, a fan and critic. Instead of writing about animation, comics, and technology, last year he spent his time writing about how people could save his life, or that of someone just like him at healemru.com. This drive is in his memory.

Even if you are not eligible to give blood, you may be eligible to be a bone marrow donor, so please do not select yourself out of the process if you are interested.

Labels: bone marrow drives, conventions, Emru, free registration, Massachusetts, NMDP

So. The bone marrow drive was a complete success.

There were 2000-2200 people estimated to attend Arisia, so we went with 20 people as a reasonable number of registrants. This is something new, and even when reactions are positive, usually only a handful register. For instance, someone in Toronto did and event where 7000 people attended and 200 registered online so they could get their kits at home. This is seen as a success although it is proportionally less than 20 people registering at Arisia. Also, many people in that 200 did not return their swabs.

Seventy-one people registered with no pressure on Saturday. There was almost always someone signing up at the table. There were sometimes 2 people but almost never 3 signing up. This made the event very orderly. The annual blood drive (which also had a record year) was a few tables away, and the fan who runs it also mentioned he has been in the registry for many years. He is also a regular platelet donor.

The Naughty Nurses performed skits on Friday night and on Saturday before other events to highlight the good work being done by the blood drive, and created a skit for marrow as well. Unfortunately, I got tied up and did not get to see it on Friday night (hmph).

Because of the success on Saturday, Darryl from the CRIR returned on Sunday and 19 more people signed up, making a total of 90 new registrants.

I also met quite a few people who were already registered. I met a very nice young woman who donated twice and saved a man's life. I met a teenager that received marrow when she was very young from a relative (unfortunately, her donor died two days later from completely unrelated circumstances, and instead of saying, "Someone saved my life in the nick of time." she had been telling people, "Someone donated to me and died two days later," making them think the donation was the cause - Sigh.)

No one was pressured into signing up. Quite a few people took information and said they did not know enough yet and wanted to learn more after the convention then decide, which is fine by me! Both Hema-Quebec and OneMatch have cited that one of the reasons they do not run drives is that people feel pressured to do it. BS. We told people it was happening, and we told people the facts.

With some preparation and the right materials available at the table, compassionate people came of their free will. The drive took up one table, and in addition to the swab kits and consent forms, a few boxes were brought with sweaters, bags and pins for registrants. I brought my pins and some of my Heal Emru business cards.

My friend Val made this happen and has begun the work for another drive next month at Boskone. She and I will be there, too.

Some people could not be marrow donors, so we directed them to the blood drive if they were eligible, and the blood drive did the same for us. Emru would not have lived to see his transplant if he had not received transfusions to keep him alive. (I say this in addition to ALL the great reasons to give blood).

The event was much more emotional for me than I thought it would be, but it felt great and I also heard many positive stories related to the issue and received lots of excellent feedback.

Labels: Arisia, blood drive, bone marrow drives, conventions, CRIR, Emru, free registration, Massachusetts

Representatives of the Caitlin Raymond International Registry and volunteers from the fannish community will be running an information table and registry drive. Registration itself is simple and painless: all you have to do is swab your cheek and fill out a form. To register you must be between the ages of 16 and 60 and in general good health.

Legislators in several US states have passed laws that make it mandatory for most insurance companies operating in these states to pay the cost of registration. Please bring your health insurance card with you. If you live in RI, NH, or MA you can register at this event at no cost.

More than 35,000 patients per year, many of them children, are diagnosed with diseases treatable by marrow or stem cell transplant. These diseases include leukemia, lymphoma and other cancers and genetic diseases.

Many people do not consider donating because they may not know they can help, but also because they have misconceptions about the donation process. The drive is a great venue for getting your questions answered.

When someone needs a bone marrow transplant and none of their family members are a match, the registry searches for a donor whose tissue type profile is compatible. 70% of people requiring a transplant need an unrelated donor.

A person looking for a stem cell match may find one potential donor in a pool of 20,000, or 1,000,000, or more. The most likely match for someone is a person of the same or a similar ethnic background. No one is guaranteed a match, regardless of background, but ethnic minorities are especially underrepresented and patients have even less chance of finding a matching donor.Then they have to hope that person is on the registry. You might be the match necessary to save a life.


The inspiration for this drive is the thousands of people who are waiting on any given day for a donor.



One of them was Emru Townsend, a fan and critic. Instead of writing about animation, comics, and technology, last year he spent his time writing about how people could save his life, or that of someone just like him at healemru.com. This drive is in his memory.

Arisia will also be holding its annual blood drive. Less than 40% of North Americans are eligible to give blood, so if you are, please also consider helping to save lives and in a more immediate manner: http://2009.arisia.org/blooddrive.

Labels: Arisia, blood drive, bone marrow drives, conventions, CRIR, free registration, Massachusetts

From InsideMedford.com:

Tufts University will host a donor registration drive for the Dana-Farber Marrow Donor Program on June 7 in honor of local baseball legend Bill Monbouqette.

The registration drive, organized by Monbouquette’s former Red Sox teammate Jerry Moses, will take place from 10AM to 6PM at Cousens Gym at Tufts, 161 College Avenue, Medford.

Labels: bone marrow drives, Massachusetts, US

Here's a reminder of the bone marrow registration drives we've reported on that are coming up over the next seven days:

April 28
Boston, Massachusetts - University of Massachusetts Boston

April 30
San Francisco, California - University of California San Francisco
Palo Alto, California - Stanford University
Warwick, Rhode Island - Tollgate High School
Providence, Rhode Island - Garrahy Judicial Complex

May 1
Palo Alto, California - Stanford University

May 2
Dover, New Hampshire - Castaways
Wood River, Rhode Island - Chariho High School

May 3
Chattanooga, Tennessee - Signal Crest United Methodist Church

May 4
Palo Alto, California - St. Patrick Proto-Cathedral
Mountain View, California - India Literacy Project Run
Milpitas, California - New Vision Church

Labels: bone marrow drives, California, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Tennessee, US

Just got a tip from one of our Boston contingents: There's a drive coming up at UMass in the city. Details from marrow.org:

Donor Center: Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Telephone Numbers: (617) 632-2561, (866) 875-3324
Drive Name: U MASS BOSTON
Drive Location: Main Campus
Address: 100 Morrissey Blvd, Boston, MA 02115
Drive Date: Apr 28 2008
Drive Time: 12:00PM - 2:00PM

As always, you can find out about National Marrow Donor Program-affiliated centres and drives in your area by checking out their list of donor centres by state.

Labels: bone marrow drives, Massachusetts, US

Free registration at Harvard. From GoCrimson.com:

This Friday, April 25, the Harvard football team will coordinate the Harvard Football Bone Marrow Drive to capitalize on the opportunity of a lifetime – the opportunity to save a life.

From 2-5 p.m. at Harvard's Lavietes Pavilion, the football team invites everyone to be tested to see if they are able to donate. There is no cost to be tested and anyone can make a difference in a minimal amount of time.

Labels: bone marrow drives, free registration, Massachusetts, US

An e-mail from my aunt about a bone marrow drive at Long Island University's Brooklyn campus led me to a great find: the Icla da Silva Foundation's calendar of bone marrow drives, currently listed through to June 22. This is as good a time as any to mention that we will soon have a calendar on the site to make it easy for people to look up drives and their details.

Labels: bone marrow drives, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, US

From Erica Murray's blog:

Wednesday, April 2, 11:00 - 4:00
MEDFORD, MA
Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy, Tufts Campus
160 Packard Avenue, Cabot Basement (Under the Hall of Flags)

Friday, April 4, 10:00 - 3:00
SAN FRANCISCO, CA
Hall of Justice, 850 Bryant St, Room 512 (adjacent to the Police Commission Hearing Room)

Erica has also made a YouTube video about her search. Have a look:

Labels: bone marrow drives, Massachusetts, personal appeal, US

Read the column through if you have a minute; it includes mention of an admirable effort to organize drives with other schools (Villanova, UMass, New Hampshire, Maine, Temple, Harvard, Wagner and Penn). From The Northeastern News:

On April 12, the Husky football team will have a chance to do just that. That day will see them help the Bone Marrow Institute of America in a five-hour bone marrow drive starting at noon in Solomon Court.

You can help Husky football save lives as well. Students can join the drive by showing up at Solomon Court April 10 between noon and 5 p.m., signing up beforehand at a sign-up booth that will be placed at Marino Center next week or sending an e-mail to huskyfootball@neu.edu.

Labels: bone marrow drives, Massachusetts, minority donors, US