Aim4Peace and Delete Blood Cancer Chapter Plan Bone Marrow Drive for Kansas Citian Ali Tolefree, Sat., Aug. 29th at Brush Creek Community Center
Ali Tolefree’s friends at anti-violence program Aim4Peace and the local chapter of Delete Blood Cancer and others in the community are planning a bone marrow drive for his survival Aug. 29th, 9 am-4 pm at the Brush Creek Community Center, 3801 Brush Creek Blvd, Kanas City.
Ali Tolefree is a business owner, husband, and father of three from Kansas City, MO. In May, Ali was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. Doctor’s determined his best chance for survival was a bone marrow transplant. With no family matches available, Ali must rely on the national bone marrow registry.
More than half of patients searching for a match will never receive one due to lack of donors on the national registry. Patients with ethnic backgrounds are even less likely to find a match due to lack of diversity on the registry. Ali’s family and friends along with the Aim4Peace violence prevention program want to help Ali beat the odds by hosting a bone marrow donor drive.
It only takes a few minutes and the swab of a cheek to see if you could be a life-saving match for Ali!
Facts and Figures
· Delete Blood Cancer is part of the world’s largest network of donor centers. Our mission is to save lives by increasing the number of people registered as potential donors. In the U.S., our donors are listed on the national registry, managed by the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP).
· Blood cancer is the third leading cause of all cancer deaths in the U.S and kills more children in the U.S. than any other disease. However, many patients can be saved with bone marrow transplants.
· African-Americans make up only 7% of the national registry. Patients are most likely to match donors who share their ancestry, which means that a more diverse registry will raise the odds of matches for African-American patients in need. Unfortunately, 42% of registered African-American donors decide to discontinue the process once it’s been determined they are a match for a patients of African-American descent. This is mainly due to the perceived pain associated with donating.
· Nearly 70 percent of patients must rely on a stranger to give them a second chance at life. Every year, nearly 13,000 people in the U.S., of which nearly 2,000 are African-American, will need a bone marrow transplant from an unrelated donor. Less than half will receive one.
· Bone marrow and stem cell transplants are used to treat blood cancers and diseases. In the United States, 90,000 to 100,000 people―mainly African-Americans―have sickle cell disease. The disease occurs in 1 out of 500 African-American births. African-Americans also have twice the incidence rate of myeloma than Caucasians.
· Registering is easy, all it takes is a simple swab of your mouth. You can register at a nearby donor drive or online at DeleteBloodCancer.org.