News Release may 09, 2006

Bonfils’ Colorado Marrow Donor Program Supports National Marrow Donor Program’s Thanks Mom! Marrow Drive
Three marrow donor recruitment drives scheduled for May 13 and 17

For more information contact:
Julie Scott 303.361.2873
Bonfils Blood Center

DENVER (May 09, 2006) - Bonfils’ Colorado Marrow Donor Program is pleased to announce its participation in the national Thanks Mom! Marrow Donor Recruitment Campaign. This Mother’s Day weekend, recruitment drives will be held in more than 80 cities across the nation.

Members of our community will have three opportunities to join others across the country this Mother’s Day Weekend to thank their mothers for the gift of life by giving the gift of life to someone else.

The Colorado Marrow Donor Program will host two drives on Saturday, May 13 and one Wednesday, May 17 in hopes of adding more life-saving donors to the National Marrow Donor Program® (NMDP) Registry. Denver’s Ronald McDonald House located at 1300 E. 21st Avenue will host the first marrow drive from 9 a.m. to noon on May 13. A second recruitment drive will be held at The Children’s Hospital Blood Donor Center located at 1056 E. 19th Avenue from 1 to 3 p.m. the same day. The third drive in the series will be held May 17 from 9 a.m. to noon at the Hebrew Educational Alliance at 3600 S. Ivanhoe in Denver. Individuals interested in participating in the Hebrew Educational Alliance marrow drive should contact Lisa Nash at 303.773.6228 to schedule an appointment.

People between the ages of 18 and 60 are urged to join the NMDP Registry at the Thanks Mom! drives. Each year, thousands of people in the United States are diagnosed with diseases for which a transplant could be a cure. Approximately 70 percent of patients are unable to find a donor match within their family. Ethnically diverse patients have the greatest difficulty finding a suitable unrelated donor therefore, recruiting new and ethnically diverse donors is key to the ongoing success of the program.

The CMDP also seeks volunteers interested in coordinating ethnic-focused marrow registration drives at their church, school, business or other community organization. For more information about joining the registry or coordinating a drive, please call 303.363.2345.

Bonfils Blood Center supplies blood to more than 200 healthcare facilities and needs to collect 4,350 blood donations weekly to meet the needs of the community and to be prepared for any unexpected events. For information about scheduling a blood donation, please visit www.bonfils.org or call (303) 363-2300.