To Donate:
• Blood drive and
marrow typing is from 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 21 at the United Methodist Church, 2227 4th St. Monroe.
MONROE - People who donate blood next week at the Monroe United Methodist Church will have an opportunity to do something a little extra to help out in a health emergency by registering to be a bone marrow donor.
Ron Boeck, New Glarus, learned just how important that extra opportunity can be.
In 1988 he signed up to be a donor. His bone marrow was a perfect match for a woman in Connecticut, who needed a bone marrow transplant. The transplant was done at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and taken to Seattle, where the woman received treatment.
He later learned her life was saved by the transplant. He's talked to the woman on the phone, but has never met her.
"It's a super feeling," Boeck said, with a smile.
Boeck and Tom Farris, Monroe, are now taking the lead to get people to sign up for the registry.
Called "Be the Match," the program puts potential bone marrow donors on a list so when bone marrow is needed for a transplant, doctors are able to search the registry for a match. The registering is done through the Rock River Blood Center and not affiliated with the American Red Cross.
In most cases, a bone marrow transplant is done by a family member, but sometimes there isn't a match within a family. That's why it's important to have a national registry, Farris said.
"The more people you have signed up the more chances there are to find a match," Farris said.
The procedure to join the registry is simple, he added.
People are asked similar questions to those asked whenever someone gives blood. After a consent form is filled out and signed, saliva is collected with cotton swabs. The cells collected in the saliva are then labeled for future use, if they're needed.
Not everyone who joins the registry will be needed and there is no requirement to donate marrow if someone is matched with a person who needs a transplant.
It's entirely voluntary, Boeck said. Only people between the ages of 18 and 60 can sign up for the registry, he added.
Farris said it takes about 15 minutes to fill out the required forms and provide a saliva sample.
There is no cost to provide a saliva sample or to be on the registry, he said.
The blood drive and marrow typing is from 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 21 at the United Methodist Church, 2227 4th St. Monroe.
More information is available by calling Farris at (608) 426-0681.
Ron Boeck, New Glarus, learned just how important that extra opportunity can be.
In 1988 he signed up to be a donor. His bone marrow was a perfect match for a woman in Connecticut, who needed a bone marrow transplant. The transplant was done at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and taken to Seattle, where the woman received treatment.
He later learned her life was saved by the transplant. He's talked to the woman on the phone, but has never met her.
"It's a super feeling," Boeck said, with a smile.
Boeck and Tom Farris, Monroe, are now taking the lead to get people to sign up for the registry.
Called "Be the Match," the program puts potential bone marrow donors on a list so when bone marrow is needed for a transplant, doctors are able to search the registry for a match. The registering is done through the Rock River Blood Center and not affiliated with the American Red Cross.
In most cases, a bone marrow transplant is done by a family member, but sometimes there isn't a match within a family. That's why it's important to have a national registry, Farris said.
"The more people you have signed up the more chances there are to find a match," Farris said.
The procedure to join the registry is simple, he added.
People are asked similar questions to those asked whenever someone gives blood. After a consent form is filled out and signed, saliva is collected with cotton swabs. The cells collected in the saliva are then labeled for future use, if they're needed.
Not everyone who joins the registry will be needed and there is no requirement to donate marrow if someone is matched with a person who needs a transplant.
It's entirely voluntary, Boeck said. Only people between the ages of 18 and 60 can sign up for the registry, he added.
Farris said it takes about 15 minutes to fill out the required forms and provide a saliva sample.
There is no cost to provide a saliva sample or to be on the registry, he said.
The blood drive and marrow typing is from 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 21 at the United Methodist Church, 2227 4th St. Monroe.
More information is available by calling Farris at (608) 426-0681.