News Release October 18, 2007
Contact:
Julie Scott
303.361.2873
Bonfils Blood Center
Help Stop Hunger and Save Lives this November
Community invited to join National Marrow Donor Registry withnon-perishable food donation
DENVER (Oct. 18, 2007) – – Join Bonfils Blood Center’s Colorado Marrow Donor Program (CMDP) this November in recognizing National Marrow Awareness Month by registering to become a potential life-saving blood stem cell donor for patients with blood-related diseases. Bring a canned good to any Bonfils Community Donor Center during the month of November and you can join the National Marrow Donor Registry free of charge. Collected canned goods will be donated throughout the month to Food Bank of the Rockies and Community Food Share to help less fortunate families during the upcoming holidays.
Healthy individuals between the ages of 18 and 60 may join the registry at any of Bonfils’ nine community donor centers. To register, potential donors will complete a health history and consent form and a small sample of cells will be collected for initial testing. Visit www.bonfils.org or call 303.363.2300 for community donor center hours and locations.
Food drives are essential to Food Bank of the Rockies’ mission of Fighting Hunger and Feeding Hope. To the 320,000 people in the areas served by Food Bank of the Rockies, hunger knows no season.
Food Bank of the Rockies strives to create a place for everyone at the table. In addition, Community Food Share, which supports Boulder and Broomfield counties, serves millions of nutritious meals to people in need every year. Canned goods and dry goods such as tuna, soups, vegetables, fruit, pasta, rice, instant potatoes, peanut butter and condiments make ideal donations for food drives.
“We decided to make our food and marrow drive an annual event after adding nearly 170 new donors to the registry and collecting tons of food to support families in need last year,” said Patty Owens, program manager of the CMDP. “We hope to serve even more families this year.”
Each year, thousands of people in the United States are diagnosed with diseases for which a blood stem cell 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 stem cell donors is key to the ongoing success of the program.
The CMDP seeks volunteers interested in coordinating ethnic-focused marrow registration drives at their churches, schools, businesses or other community organizations. For more information about joining the registry or coordinating a drive, please call 303.363.2345.
About Bonfils Blood Center
For more than 60 years, Bonfils Blood Center has supported the community blood supply and has played an instrumental role in the lives of patients in need throughout Colorado and beyond. 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 Bonfils and the Colorado Marrow Donor Program, please visit www.bonfils.org.
About Food Bank of the Rockies
Food Bank of the Rockies (FBR), a non-profit organization, distributed more than 22 pounds of food last year through over 700 partner agencies in northern Colorado and Wyoming who run more than 970 hunger-relief programs. Food Bank of the Rockies’ key programs are Fighting Hunger Feeding Hope, Denver’s Table and Children’s Nutrition Network. They are a member of America’s Second Harvest—the Nation’s Food Bank Network. For more information on FBR, please visit www.foodbankrockies.org.
About Community Food Share
Community Food Share exists so that people in Boulder and Broomfield counties are food secure. Now in our 26th year of service, Community Food Share distributes food to those in need through a network of over 70 human service agencies in the two counties and through several Direct Distribution programs. In 2006, Community Food Share distributed over 3.4 million meals, consistent with the Food Guide Pyramid and is on track to distribute well over 3.8 million meals in 2007. For more information on the dedicated work of Community Food Share visit www.communityfoodshare.org.
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