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Foundation Focus
November is National Marrow Awareness Month Mia Hamm Foundation is one of several organizations recognizing November as National Marrow Awareness Month, a time to honor marrow donors for their gift of life, to celebrate the lives of marrow recipients, and to raise awareness of the need for more marrow donor volunteers. 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. The need for marrow donors from ethnically and racially diverse communities is especially acute. The National Marrow Donor ProgramŽ (NMDP) has found volunteer donors from minority populations are most likely to add new tissue types to its national Registry, a list of individuals who are willing and able to donate marrow. In 1999, more than 22 cities nationwide participated in the National Minority Donor Awareness Day. Cities from Anchorage to Miami and Los Angeles to Washington, D.C. hosted activities to educate and recruit bone marrow donor volunteers from African American, Hispanic American, Asian American, American Indian and Alaskan Native communities. 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 to encourage volunteer marrow donors. Mia Hamm Foundation also supports the Garrett Game, which celebrated its third anniversary in February 2000. The Garrett Game was developed to raise funds for the Garrett J. Hamm Memorial Fund, established by the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin Foundation. The indoor soccer exhibition and gala brings together the best of women's soccer to raise funds and awareness for bone marrow diseases.To date, the Garrett Game has raised more than $150,000 for the fund. On July 10, 1999, the Mia Hamm Foundation and the NMDP worked with founding partner, Nike, to sponsor a national marrow drive program. The event was held at NikeTown stores in Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Orange County (California), Miami, Atlanta, Portland, Las Vegas, San Francisco and Chicago and educated the public about bone marrow disease research, Mia's commitment to it, and how they can take part in this worthwhile cause. More than 500 people signed up to receive more information from the Mia Hamm Foundation. Visit the following links for more info.
The Bone Marrow Foundation Did You Know... o 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. o The first successful bone marrow transplant was completed in 1968. o Bone marrow transplants are performed to treat leukemia, aplastic anemia and more than 60 other life-threatening diseases. o Tissue types are inherited; therefore, a patient's best chance of finding a matched donor is within his or her family. However, only 30 percent of those who need marrow transplants will find matched donor within their families; the rest must search for unrelated donors. o The National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) was established in 1987 and has facilitated more than 8,000 marrow transplants for patients. o The NMDP keeps a national Registry for all volunteer donors. The NMDP's goal is to continue to expand and diversify this list to offer all patients an equal chance of finding an unrelated marrow donor. *Facts courtesy of the National Marrow Donor ProgramŽ |