The need for bone marrow donors from ethnically and racially diverse communities is especially acute. Mia Hamm Foundation and the National Marrow Donor ProgramŽ (NMDP) are committed to diversifying the NMDP Registry of potential bone marrow donors and cord blood units. The NMDP is a non-profit organization that facilitates unrelated bone marrow and cord blood transplants as a single point of access. Corporations, non-profit organizations and civic groups across the country are working to educate the public and support bone marrow disease research and treatment efforts.

Mia's Personal Commitment
Mia Hamm has participated in several events to support bone marrow disease research. She is a member of the board of directors for The Marrow Foundation and has joined the NMDP Registry to encourage others to volunteer as potential bone marrow donors.

Celebrity Soccer Challenge
In 2008, Mia Hamm and Nomar Garciaparra will host a celebrity soccer challenge benefiting Childrens Hospital Los Angeles and the Mia Hamm Foundation. Donations from the Celebrity Soccer Challenge will benefit bone marrow transplant patients and their families. All proceeds from the event will benefit funds set up at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles. The Celebrity Soccer Challenge's inspiration and predecessor was the Garrett Game, a soccer exhibition game named after Mia's late brother, Garrett, who died in 1997 from a bone marrow disease.

Did You Know?

• Bone marrow is found in the cavities of the body's bones. It resembles blood and contains stem cells, which produce red cells, white cells and other blood components.
• Bone marrow transplants are performed to treat leukemia, lymphoma, aplastic anemia and more than 70 other life-threatening diseases.
• The first successful bone marrow transplant was completed in 1968.
• The National Marrow Donor ProgramŽ (NMDP) was established in 1987 and has facilitated more than 30,000 bone marrow transplants for patients.
• The NMDP maintains a Registry of nearly 7 million potential volunteer bone marrow donors in the United States and can access an additional 4 million through worldwide cooperative registries.
• Every day, 6,000 patients search the NMDP Registry for an unrelated bone marrow or cord blood donor.
• Only 30 percent of patients who need marrow transplants will find matched donor within their families; the rest must search for unrelated donors.
• Because tissue type is inherited, patients are most likely to match someone of their same race or ethnicity. The NMDP is working to add more donors and cord blood units from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds to the NMDP Registry to increase the likelihood that all patients will find the match they need.

  For more information about the NMDP, call 1 (800) MARROW-2 or visit www.marrow.org. Join the NMDP Registry online by visiting www.marrow.org/join.

  *Facts courtesy of the National Marrow Donor Program

  Visit the following Web sites for more information:
  National Marrow Donor Program (www.marrow.org)
  The Bone Marrow Foundation (www.bonemarrow.org)