Skip Navigation
Menu
Search

Highlights:
Nonprofit Organization Sparks Social Movement to Help Cure Blood Cancer and Other Life-Threatening Diseases

January 10 2013

Americans turn out in force every year to help their neighbors in need during the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service, putting their time toward building communities and improving lives.

This year, Be The Match® is tapping the power of social media to provide another way for people to take part in this important day of community service, which honors one of the most inspirational leaders in the nation’s history.

The nonprofit organization, which operates the life-saving Be The Match Registry®, is giving volunteers the chance to take small but powerful steps to help save the lives of people with blood cancer and other life-threatening diseases.

Be The Match is providing three ways for people to join its cadre of social volunteers in the weeks surrounding MLK Day of Service:

  • Spread the word through social media about the importance of joining the Be The Match Registry
  • Join the Be The Match Registry and stand ready to save a life
  • Pledge to organize a bone marrow donor registry drive  

Be The Match launched a Facebook page on January 14 at http://www.facebook.com/BeTheMatch to anchor its MLK Day of Service efforts. Visitors will find easy ways to join the movement and share their support via Facebook, Twitter and other social networks. They also can pledge to host a bone marrow registry drive or order a kit online enabling them to join the Be The Match Registry.

Be The Match is the global leader in providing bone marrow and umbilical cord blood transplants to patients with life-threatening blood cancers. Leukemia and lymphoma patients depend on the Be The Match Registry, the world’s largest listing of potential bone marrow donors and donated cord blood units, to find a matched donor.

“It’s an important act of volunteerism to tell a friend about how they can help save lives through Be The Match,” said Jeffrey W. Chell, M.D., chief executive officer of Be The Match. “This is a simple and powerful message – the more people who join the Be The Match Registry, the greater the chance someone with blood cancer or another life-threatening disease will find his or her cure.”

Be The Match (http://www.bethematch.org) is committed to using social media for social good. The organization’s MLK Day of Service efforts expand opportunities for volunteers to take part in these important community service initiatives. People already volunteering with on-the-ground programs can add another act of service to their day. Social volunteerism makes it possible for anyone to make a life-saving impact during the Day of Service by taking part in the Be The Match movement.