80 UACC congregants register as potential bone marrow donors
LOS ANGELES — The Armenian Bone Marrow Donor Registry conducted a donor recruitment drive in Los Angeles on August 13 to help save the life of Rev. Harut Khachatryan, senior pastor at United Armenian Congregational Church.
Rev. Khachatryan, 39, is suffering from leukemia, a life-threatening illness. He may urgently need a bone marrow stem cell transplant, which requires a matched donor.
The recruitment drive, which was organized jointly by UACC, ABMDR, and Rev. Khachatryan’s family, took place at the hall of the church.
Prior to the recruitment drive, during church service, ABMDR president Dr. Frieda Jordan addressed the congregants. She familiarized them with the mission of ABMDR as well as the simple, painless process of becoming a donor, and urged every healthy person between the ages of 18 and 50 to register with ABMDR as a potential bone marrow stem cell donor.
“Being a donor is a wonderful opportunity to bring hope to someone,” Dr. Jordan said. “Imagine, you could be the one who saves Rev. Harut’s life, or the life of any of the numerous Armenian patients who are currently waiting for their hero: a matched donor who will enable them to have a life-saving transplant.”
The congregation responded enthusiastically to Dr. Jordan’s appeal, as a total of 80 individuals registered as potential bone marrow stem cell donors.
“I’d like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to the United Armenian Congregational Church administration, and especially Aleen Khanjian, for organizing this great event,” Dr. Jordan said.
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 44 countries across four continents, identified over 9,000 patients, and facilitated 40 bone marrow transplants.
