Bone marrow from minorities is in short supply on the American Red Cross’ registry, and some campus groups want to help.
The Asian Fraternity Interest Group and residence hall Racial Ethnic Student Aides are sponsoring a bone marrow drive geared toward minority students today.
The drive is free for students.
The American Red Cross estimates there are about 4 million potential donors in the registry - only 1 million of whom are minorities. Bone marrow can be used for people with leukemia or transplants for blood diseases. People requiring transplants are more likely to find a match from a person of their own race or ethnicity.
It takes about 15 minutes for a person to sign a consent form and donate one tube of blood. Bone marrow is extracted from the hip bone or through peripheral stem cells.
Rosalinda Luiz, recruiter for the Great Lakes Region American Red Cross Bone Marrow Program, said Asians and Native Americans are more unlikely than other races to find a match.
“It’s fear and not enough information out there,” she said. “It’s important for minorities because people don’t realize only 30 percent of the time they can find a match in their own family. The 70 percent have to go outside their family.”
After donating, a person is on the registry until the age of 60 and can donate up to three times in their lifetime.
Jackie Ellis, president of Mount Clemens-based My Friends Care Bone Marrow Transplant Fund, said the organization’s purpose is to help patients with bone marrow transplants raise money to pay for the process. Ellis said minorities are very underrepresented on the national registry. They donated $1,500 to the drive.
“If patients don’t find a match, they die,” she said. “These are life-threatening diseases.”
Computer science freshman Peter Kim, a member of the interest group, said Racial Ethnic Student Aides in residence halls have been helpful with informing students about the drive.
“We are only taking two tablespoons of blood,” he said. “You just have to remember that in a month, you will be back to normal, and you will give someone a second chance.”
