Help Save Elissa! Join the Bone Marrow Donor Registry

by Erica Steen, director of the Morris Cafritz Center for Community Service at the Washington DCJCC

It’s been a while since I’ve written about my being a bone marrow donor for Luke. As you may recall, I was contacted in December and told that I was a bone marrow match. What a rush of emotions; excitement, fear, uncertainty, you never know how the procedure is going to affect you physically but it’s a great feeling knowing that you can save someone’s life.

Luke, as I named him (it is an anonymous donation), was put into the ICU just before my donation process started. My understanding, now 7 months later, is that he is still not healthy enough to accept the donation. So, I play the waiting game and hope that soon I will be able to help Luke on his way to recovery.

In the meantime one of our own, a DC Jewish Community Professional, Elissa, is in desperate need of a Bone Marrow transplant. I am obviously in the bone marrow database so we need you to join. It is a fact that it is more likely for someone of Jewish descent to be a donor for someone else of Jewish descent (but everyone is welcome to join us to register). With the help of The Gift of Life Foundation we will be swabbing cheeks and adding names (hopefully yours) to the registry. All in the hope that someone here is a bone marrow match for Elissa.

Please stop by the Washington DCJCC on August 5 between 5:00-7:30pm. You can schmooze with the 90+ people that have already said they will attend and once you join you can get yourself a SweetGreen yogurt from the SweetFlow mobile on your way out. Everyone that registers for the bone marrow registry will receive $1.00 off of their order.

Learn more about the bone marrow drive for Elissa at washingtondcjcc.org/elissa