| NATIONWIDE BONE MARROW DRIVE TO SAVE NIRALI
Eighteen month
old Nirali has Acute Lymphoblast Leukemia or blood cancer,
and she is in need of a bone marrow transplant to be treated.
Patients needing a bone marrow transplant are most likely
to find a match with someone from their racial group, but
for the South Asian community the chances of finding a match
are worse since so few have registered to be a donor. Understanding
the critical situation, BAPS Charities responded
quickly by organizing a nationwide bone marrow drive at
24 of its centers throughout North America on Sunday, August
27, 2006.
With the support
of Larsen and Toubro employees, South Asian Marrow Association
of Recruiters (SAMAR), NMDP and other bone marrow registries
across North America, the event was planned and executed
within a short time of one week. With everyone's joint efforts,
over 1700 donors registered at BAPS Charities Bone
Marrow Drive. The response was overwhelming; in New Jersey,
Chicago, Houston, Dallas and Atlanta all the sampling kits
for bone marrow testing were used up, and still there were
people ready to register.
BAPS Charities
also guided other organizations to organize a bone marrow
drive. Similar drives were also organized at BAPS centers
in Canada and UK. BAPS Charities prays and hopes
that more Asians and Indians will register and provide hope
with a bone marrow match.
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