Project Share Life
Our Mission: To increase the number and ethnic diversity of potential bone marrow donors in the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) Registry through education, partnerships and community drives.
This
Rotary Project has come a long way over the past eight years.
Since its inception, over 20,000 potential donors have been
added to the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) Registry!
Due to the Project’s efforts, the Donormo Registry in Mexico
has been incorporated into the NMDP Registry, adding another
5000 potential donors.
The NMDP is now reporting matches coming from our marrow typing drives, making it easier to approach Rotary Clubs for volunteer and financial support. Also, it has become increasingly easy for potential donors to get typed as the blood draw has been discontinued and replaced with “cheek swabs.”
The project is a collaborative effort between Rotarians and community organizations. Committee members include Rotarians, key personnel from the NMDP, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, marrow recruitment centers and blood centers. This collaboration demonstrates the power of Rotary in the community.
Our biggest challenges are in the areas of finance and volunteers. If every Club in District 5170 would add this project to its annual budget ($500 - $2000) and provide one motivated Rotarian who is interested in furthering the cause, this project would continue to grow and eventually be recognized as an international project.
With the advent of Cord Blood banks and the education of pregnant women donating umbilical cord blood, Project Share Life is also hoping to pursue this emerging avenue for potential donors.
Every 5 minutes, someone in the United States is diagnosed with a blood cancer and every 10 minutes, someone dies from this form of cancer. At any one time, 3000 blood cancer patients are searching the NMDP Registry looking for a matched donor. The Rotary Project Share Life mission is to help increase the odds of these patients finding a match which offers a potential cure.
Statistics show that over 118,000 people will be diagnosed with a blood cancer this year and almost 54,000 will not survive.
Rotary Project Share Life has an obligation to touch the lives of cancer patients because this project exemplifies the Rotary Four-Way Test.
| Arley C. Marley
III Project Share Life Chair 2007-2008 |
Bonnie Burdett
Project Share Life Chair 2008-2009 |
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