LOS ANGELES — In recent days, the Armenian Bone Marrow Donor Registry held two donor recruitment drives in the Los Angeles area, to find donor matches for patients in the US and abroad who urgently need bone marrow stem cell transplantation for a chance to survive their diseases.
ABMDR held a recruitment drive at St. Leon Cathedral, in Burbank on February 3. The organization held a second recruitment on February 6, at the Armenian Brotherhood Bible Church, in Pasadena, for Maral Boyadjian as well as all ABMDR patients. The Pasadena event was organized jointly by Boyadjian’s family and ABMDR.
Boyadjian, who is the principal of Sahag-Mesrob School, is suffering from Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), a type of blood cancer. Her only chance for survival, like all ABMDR patients, is to receive a bone marrow stem cell transplant, which would be possible only if she is matched with a compatible stem cell donor.
At the recruitment drive in Burbank, 24 supporters signed up as potential bone marrow stem cell donors. At the Pasadena event, 176 supporters joined the ranks of ABMDR.
“Becoming a donor is a simple, safe, and painless process, and promises the deeply rewarding chance of saving someone’s life,” said ABMDR president Dr. Frieda Jordan and continued, “I’d like to thank everyone, including our new donors, our volunteers, St. Leon Cathedral and Arch. Hovnan Derderian, as well as the Armenian Brotherhood Bible Church, for enabling us to hold such vitally important community events.”
Dr. Jordan further stated that anyone between the ages of 18 and 50 and in good general health can join ABMDR to become a donor and save a life.
Established in 1999, ABMDR, a nonprofit organization, helps Armenians and non-Armenians worldwide survive life-threatening blood-related illnesses by recruiting and matching donors to those requiring bone marrow stem cell transplants. To date, the registry has recruited over 33,500 donors in 32 countries across four continents, identified over 9,000 patients, and facilitated 44 bone marrow transplants. For more information, call (323) 663-3609 or visit abmdr.am.
