Country-wide. I just cannot begin to fathom. What a powerful change of focus to this commercialized Hallmark holiday.
I come upon this point because one of my friends from my California days--a Canadian who currently lives/works in Israel, sent this over:
- A friend of mine is trying to find a matching bone marrow donor for her 8 year old nephew who has leukemia. There is a (in Israel) country-wide campaign to get folks to register their blood samples in the hopes of finding an exact match. Chances of finding someone in Israel are higher than finding abroad, however, it never hurts to ask all over. Thanks so much for your consideration! Please pass on to anyone who may be interested. This will help other cancer patients as well to find life-saving transplants.
If you are outside of Israel, you may register your blood at any registry and ask to be matched to needy recipients anywhere in the world.Anna
More details at this website: http://www.ezer-mizion.org.il/ (english)
Why she mentions "chances of finding someone in Israel are higher than finding abroad" is because tissue type is inherited, so you will more likely find someone who matches you based on race/ethnicity. That's not to say that you cannot find your match far away, just that the odds tend to be better, closer. You have the ability to say that you will donate anywhere in the world. That tends to make sense for us mobile, immigrating, transitory expats.
When I lived in California I actually knew someone who donated. She was Filipina, her parents emigrated from the Phillipines to California, like many Califonians. She was a match for a little boy who was also Filipino and living in California. How small the world is.
3 comments:
Grand of you to post that! I will be getting my blood checked tomorrow.
Best in your journeys, dear missed one!
Yeah, great post. I had a couple of friends back home who did that. One ended up giving marrow to a kid with leukemia, even. I also would encourage all those who can to do it. (They won't let me donate because of certain medical conditions.) You never know who will need this help and when (you, your sister, your kid, a friend, a stranger) :-)
Hi Anna and Debbie,
I see here online http://www.ezer-mizion.org.il/310/95.htm that almost 28,000 people came out, so fingers crossed that some new matches can be made.
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