Channel 3 Marrow Donor Drive
WFSB, Partners Thank Connecticut
More than 200 people registered as potential marrow donors on Nov. 17 with Channel 3 and former UConn basketball star Rebecca Lobo. With help and generous support from Yale-New Haven Hospital and Wal-Mart, the third annual Channel 3 Marrow Donor Drive took place with great success.
Thousands of children and adults suffering from leukemia and other blood diseases desperately need marrow or blood cell transplants.
African-American, Hispanic, Asian and American Indian donors are needed more than ever as people are looking for matching donors every day.
Two drives took place simultaneously on Friday in Hartford and New Haven, attracting hundreds of people from throughout the state.
Wal-Mart: 150 people registered, 70 were minorities Yale-NH: 25 minorities registered among 134 people Altogether, 284 people -- 95 minorities -- registered Yale-New Haven Hospital is the only hospital in Connecticut that performs marrow and blood cell transplants.
When you become a marrow donor, you join more than 10 million volunteers worldwide who stand ready to give someone a future. All it takes to join the national registry of more than 6 million people is a painless cheek swab and a few minutes of paperwork.
There is no cost to register and healthy people between the ages of 18 and 60 can register to be a marrow donor.
It's not too late to get your name on the national registry of potential volunteer marrow donors. You can join online (
Find Out How You Can Help) or call the National Marrow Donor Program by dialing
860-561-5501.
You can also visit the National Marrow Donor Program of New England, located at 433 S. Main St., Suite 111, in West Hartford.
Every day, thousands of patients are searching for a donor. You could be the one a patient needs.
