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Celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
Celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
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Community Called to Action

Be The Match® recognizes and celebrates Asian American and Pacific Islanders Heritage Month and the many Asian and Pacific Islanders who have and are making an impact on American history. Diverse in culture, food, geography, heritage and language, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders all embrace a sense of community, the Eastern philosophy of “We” above “Me.” Be The Match has a goal to ensure cellular therapy is available to everyone, including Asian Americans, who currently only have a 41% chance of having a match on the Be The Match Registry®.

This month is important, as we also acknowledge and condemn the hate Asians have faced in recent months all around the United States. We hear you, and we want to hear from you. We see you, and we want to see you.

Join Dan Lok in supporting Be The Match

The Ruko Family

I strongly believe in their mission to save people from life-threatening blood cancers such as leukemia and lymphoma. I’d like to see a world where cellular therapies are readily available to everyone, regardless of race. Be The Match has my full support, and I’m proud to partner with them in the hope we can save as many people as humanly possible.

More than half of all Asian or Pacific Islander patients do not have a blood stem cell donor on the registry. We’re in need of donors, and by joining the registry, you’re not only helping others, but you’re also helping yourself should someone you love be in need of a donor. Together we can fight life-threatening blood cancers and heal the world.

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Asian American and Pacific Islander Donors Help Change the Odds

The Ruko Family

We celebrate and thank Asian American and Pacific Islanders like Ruko, who donated life-saving cells to patient Jerry in 2012. Jerry was only 3 years old – the same age as Ruko’s own son at the time – and she knew she would want a stranger to step up and donate if the roles were reversed.

Your healthy blood stem cells can be a cure for someone with blood cancer or other deadly disease. A blood stem cell transplant works by replacing the patient’s diseased blood stem cells with healthy cells from a genetically matched donor. The transplant replaces the patient’s entire blood and immune system.

Ruko donated marrow in July of 2012. She felt very supported and comfortable with the doctors doing the procedure. Her recovery was super easy, she describes it as having a bruise on her lower back for about a week.

Are you Lillian’s match?

While Jerry has received two transplants to help with his cure, the family’s battle with cancer is not over. 7-year-old Lillian was diagnosed with AML, an aggressive form of leukemia, in September 2020. While Lillian has undergone several rounds of intensive chemotherapy, her funny, optimistic and creative nature always shines through. Lillian and her family are hopeful that she will find her matching donor and get a chance to live her dreams.

The Ruko Family
All it takes to join the registry is a simple cheek swabAll it takes to join the registry is a simple cheek swab
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About Be The Match®

For people with life-threatening blood cancers—like leukemia and lymphoma—or other diseases, a cure exists. Be The Match connects patients with their donor match for a life-saving marrow or umbilical cord blood transplant. People can contribute to the cure as a member of the Be The Match Registry®, financial contributor or volunteer. Be The Match provides patients and their families one-on-one support, education, and guidance before, during and after transplant. ​ Be The Match is operated by the National Marrow Donor Program® (NMDP), a nonprofit organization that matches patients with donors, educates health care professionals and conducts research through its research program, CIBMTR® (Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research®), so more lives can be saved. To learn more about the cure, visit BeTheMatch.org or call 1 (800) MARROW-2.

NMDP℠ is entrusted and under contract to operate the federally authorized C.W. Bill Young Cell Transplantation Program.