Bone marrow drive slated for 2-year old girl Jan. 16

Bone marrow drive slated for 2-year old girl Jan. 16

The public’s help is needed to find a matching bone marrow donor for a 2-year-old Pasadena girl suffering with leukemia.

The Pasadena Public Health Department is partnering with the organization A3M-Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches (A3M), www.A3MHope.org, to encourage all members of the public interested in becoming a bone marrow donor to participate in the drive from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 16, 2014, at the Pasadena Public Health Department, 1845 N. Fair Oaks Ave.

Just five minutes and a quick cheek swab may help find much-needed compatible donors for patients across the country, including, locally, 2-year-old Sofia of Pasadena, a little girl of mixed ancestry who suffers from leukemia. For more information on the donor drive, call (213) 625-2802 or visit www.A3Mhope.org.

A3M’s mission is to improve the health and welfare of all people by providing education and assistance while facilitating prompt access to potential marrow and blood cell donors.

Donors must be between the ages of 18 to 44; be willing to donate to any patient in need and meet the health guidelines established by the National Marrow Donor Program, www.nmdp.org. The more people on the national donor registry, the better the chances are of finding matches for all patients of all backgrounds in need, including 2-year-old Sofia.

Currently, there are about 9.5 million national registry members in the United States. Of those, only 28 percent are of diverse racial or ethnic heritage.

For more than 120 years, the Pasadena Public Health Department has worked to promote and protect the health of the Pasadena community. Visit the department online at www.cityofpasadena.net/publichealth.

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