Stem Cell Donor Center June 23

The San Diego Blood Bank’s Stem Cell Donor Center will be providing free testing and registration on the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) registry at Lady Di’s Castle Consignment, 627 East Mission Road, on Saturday, June 23, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Fallbrook resident Shawna Chavez, a proud mother of four children, was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a type of cancer, in November of 2005. She hopes that more people will join the registry. Like 70 percent of the patients in need of a bone marrow transplant, Chavez has not found a compatible match within her own family, leading her to search the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) registry in the hopes of finding an unrelated donor.

Because patients are most likely to find a matching donor within their own ethnicity, healthy individuals of all ethnic backgrounds are encouraged to register.

Individuals may qualify to be a marrow or blood stem cell donor if they meet the following requirements:

• Are between the ages of 18 and 60

• Have no history of asthma, cancer, diabetes, neck or back problems, heart or circulatory disease

• Are within 20 percent of the ideal weight for their height and age set by the NMDP

• Are willing to donate to anyone who needs a transplant

For more information on donating bone marrow or blood stem cells, contact Sarah King at (619) 400-8209 or visit http://www.sandiegobloodbank.org/bonemarrow.