Join the Be The Match Registry and Enter the Lottery to Save a Life.
We’re happy to announce 35 new registrants for the bone marrow registry at last Sunday’s bone marrow drive at Hope Astoria! It was so encouraging to see so many people ask questions, become informed and ultimately make the very personal decision to commit to potentially donate bone marrow to someone in need. Hope Astoria is an incredibly beautiful, diverse and gracious community and we all enjoyed our time there.
Thank you for joining the lottery to save a life!
Two weeks ago, on Friday 3/17 and Sunday 3/19, we ran a bone marrow drive at Grace Covenant Church (GCC) in Philadelphia, PA at UPenn’s campus. Of all the bone marrow drives and speaking engagements I’ve ever done I think this one meant the most.
I was a Penn undergrad and GCC attendee when I was diagnosed with AML on December 7, 2006. The same room in which I shared my story for 40 mins on Friday is the same room that my friends wept and prayed for my life in 10 years ago.
The drive was in honor of Arthur Halim, a Penn undergrad and GCC attendee who died of leukemia in July of last year. I never met Arthur or knew him personally so initially I really struggled with what to say. But after speaking with some of his friends and reflecting on some of his own words before he passed I realized how much our experiences overlapped. I heard about his struggles with school, his desire to survive, the intensity of his sickness and the grace and peace in which he met death. Eventually the words came, and Friday’s talk went really well.
We registered 190 total people across Friday and Sunday services. While I do my best not to get caught up in numbers, 190 is insane — more than double our total for all of 2016. The sheer amount of people who were willing to commit to join the registry and sacrifice for others was amazing to see.
Although Arthur’s bone marrow transplant didn’t save his life it gave him four additional months — four months he spent returning to campus to see his friends. Through Arthur so many people were able to see, in real terms, what committed bone marrow donors can mean for others.
Sharing the story of Cheekswab at Penn was the realization of a dream I’ve held for 10 years. I still remember the night that Cheekswab began as a promise on my hospital bed, at a hospital only steps away from the events of Friday and Sunday. I could have never imagined then that I’d be back at Penn sharing that story a decade later.
Thank you to the gracious friends from both Philly and NYC who volunteered their time to help run the drive. It’s literally only via the support from volunteers like you that Cheekswab can be a reality.
And a special thank you to everyone who joined the lottery to save a life!
Rest in Peace, Arthur Halim. You are gone but not forgotten, and it was so clear all weekend that your friends in Philly love and honor you.
Sorry for the long overdue recaps (my wife and I moved apartments this month which seriously consumed our lives) but I’d like to thank the 29 people who decided to become bone marrow donors in the past month!
On Wednesday, 9/28/2016 we ran a drive with NYU’s Asian Christian Fellowship, where 22 new people signed up:
and on Sunday, 10/22/2016, we ran at drive at Grace Faith Church in Chinatown NYC, where we were able to register 7 new donors:
Thank you to everyone we met and spoke to — everyone was super encouraging, with a number of people from the NYU drive who were already registered (!) and several at Grace Faith Church who said they would’ve joined if they met age/medical qualifications. While the ultimate goal is to register as many minority donors as possible, spreading awareness and reception of the message is the road to making that happen.
I’ll never forget the frustration I felt on my hospital bed about the fact that despite a lack of minority donors being a “huge problem” I had never heard about it. No one reached out to the minority communities I was a part of.
These drives are part of the road we travel to making that happen. Thanks to everyone for listening to my story, and please don’t hesitate to share the story with others in your life for whom it may be relevant.
As always, another shout out to all of the friends who help volunteer to help staff our drives. Cheekswab isn’t a reality without your support.
Thank you to the 23 new donors from Good News Church NYC that #SwabbedToSaveALife on Sunday!
It really was a tremendous turnout, with so many people already on the registry. It was a pleasure having the opportunity to share about bone marrow donation and engage with such a tight-knit community. Thank you so much for the time, space and opportunity!
Thank you to everyone who came out to City Grace NY this afternoon! We’re happy to report that we had a total of 16 new registrants to the bone marrow registry, which was an awesome response.
Thank you so much to the members of City Grace NY — Ben Spalink, Steven and Cancha — and the employees of the Anthology Film Archives for all of their help organizing and executing the drive.
Thank you for joining the lottery to save a life!
