Tracy Shavers Ministry as well as the Be the Match Registry Foundation, are asking for Pine Bluff residents to come out July 14, to join the bone marrow registry event at The Pines mall from 10:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m.
During the event, residents can complete a consent form and allow the inside of their cheeks to be swabbed to see if they may be a match for someone who needs a bone marrow donor.
According to Mary LeSuer, Be the Match Recruitment Account Executive for Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee, it costs the organization up to $100 to add someone to the registry, so a donation is also welcome.
Damaris Mims, the spokeswoman for Shavers Ministry, said she and Shavers chose to organize the event because Shavers was a bone marrow recipient 20 years ago and she wants to help find other donors.
Mims said they were inspired to put together the event when they heard the story of Leslie Harris, an Arkansas resident who was diagnosed Acute Myeloid Leukemia just hours before giving birth to her son.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Harris was only given 6 months to a year to live without a transplant and she is currently searching for a bone marrow match according to her website, loveforleslie.com.
Mims said she got in contact with LeSuer to see how she would go about holding a marrow registry event. LeSuer will be coming to work with volunteers from the organization as well as from the community. The organization will be providing kits free July 14.
Shavers received a bone marrow transplant after having been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma cancer years ago. She said the idea of putting the event together came from not only her personal experience, but also her goddaughter’s. Her goddaughter was diagnosed with leukemia and is currently searching for a donor.
Shavers said Harris’ story also inspired her because she felt like her situation was similar.
“You know, just like Leslie was only given short amount of time to live, I was only given three months to live,” Shavers said.
According to Shavers, this is her first time putting the event together, but she said it is certainly not the last time. She said she is very excited and expects the event to go very well. She is currently going to churches around the community to influence African Americans to come out and join the registry.
More African American donors are needed. According to a press release from Be the Match, an estimated 7 percent of African Americans are currently donors, compared to Caucasian donors are at 71 percent, Hispanics at 10 percent and Asians which are at seven percent.
Shavers was told about Be the Match through her spokeswoman and sister, Mims. Shavers said she had a great feeling about the organization. Shavers was really pleased that the organization will be offering their services completely free of charge. Shavers also showed her appreciation towards General Manger of The Pines mall, Scott Green, for his enthusiasm towards holding the event in the mall.
The event will be located in the food court area and Green is allowing the event to be held there free.
LeSuer said she will be helping volunteers learn how to sponsor such an event. According to LeSuer, this is not the first registry event in Arkansas. She said there has been numerous events in Arkansas throughout the years.
According to LeSuer, Be the Match registry is a part of the National Marrow Donor Program, which is organized to find bone marrow donors for patients with Leukemia, Lymphoma, Sickle Cell and other types of diseases. Only about 30 percent of the time a family member is a donor match, which LeSuer said isn’t enough.
The registry has a national database of diverse donors where they can go in and find donors for a patient. They also raise funds for patients in need of bone marrow transplants.