City of Atlanta and Gwinnet County Designate July 10-17 as "Cheek Week" To Help Raise Awareness of the Need for More Black and African American Donors on the Be The Match Registry

ATLANTA, July 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- July is African American Bone Marrow Awareness Month, and Be The Match, the National Marrow Donor Program, has partnered with the City of Atlanta and Gwinnett County to designate July 10-17 as "Cheek Week" to raise awareness of the need for more diverse donors to be the cure for patients battling blood cancers like leukemia and blood diseases like sickle cell disease. Cheek Week will include various activities throughout the greater Atlanta community, including cheek swabbing events, a donor from Atlanta meeting her transplant recipient for the first time, and a celebratory walk for families to encourage more individuals to join the Be The Match Registry.

"Many people don't know that race and ethnicity play a role in finding a matching donor," explained Erica Jensen, Senior Vice President of Member Enrollment, Engagement and Experience for Be The Match. "We have within us the power to save the lives of individuals from our own communities. Black patients are least likely to find a matching donor on the Be The Match Registry than any other community. More Black donors are urgently needed to help cure patients."

Fourteen-year-old Joshua of Lawrenceville, Ga. had his first pain crisis from sickle cell disease when he was just 5 months old. At the age of 18 months, he suffered a sickle-cell related stroke which left him partially paralyzed and reliant on a wheelchair. A blood stem cell or bone marrow transplant from a matching donor is the only cure for sickle cell disease, but Joshua does not have any compatible matches in his family or on the Be The Match Registry. Gwinnett County Commissioner Marlene Fosque sponsored a Cheek Week proclamation to support Joshua's search and is encouraging Gwinnett residents to attend a drive-thru swabbing event on Saturday, July 17 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Rhodes Jordan Park in Lawrenceville.

Black or African American patients only have a 29 percent chance of finding a matching donor on the Be The Match Registry compared to other races that have as high as a 79 percent chance of finding a match. This is a disparity Be The Match acknowledges has resulted from historical and present day systemic injustices African Americans have experienced, which have led to distrust of healthcare organizations. In addition, there is generally low awareness of the diseases that can be cured by bone marrow transplants and the disparity affecting Black and African Americans. Be The Match is dedicated to leveraging Cheek Week and other initiatives as a way to further inform the community about the facts of blood stem cell and bone marrow donation.

"A simple swab of the cheek can inspire hope for thousands of Black patients waiting and hoping for a matching donor," said Marci Collier Overstreet, City of Atlanta Councilmember who sponsored the Cheek Week proclamation. "We hold within us the cure to cancer like leukemia and diseases that disproportionately affect the Black community like sickle cell disease. This is the chance to be a hero, to stand up against racial inequalities and save a life. I know Atlanta residents will rise to the challenge and join the Be The Match Registry."

Councilmember Overstreet will present a proclamation from the City of Atlanta to Be The Match's CEO Amy Ronneberg at her office on Monday, July 12. Fox 5 Atlanta's Helping Hands is providing awareness of the campaign and inviting the larger community to join the Registry to help eliminate the disparity.  Cheek swabbing drives will be held at Children's Hospital of Atlanta from Tuesday, July 13 to Thursday, July 15, and a drive will be held in conjunction with a Fun in the Sun walk for Be The Match patients, donors and ambassadors on Friday, July 16 at KIPP STRIVE Primary School.

To learn more about the myths and facts of blood stem cell donation or to join the Be The Match Registry visit http://www.BeTheMatchATL.org/cheek-week. Individuals between the ages of 18-44 years old can register online to join the Be The Match Registry and a cheek swab kit will be mailed to the registrant's home to complete the registration process and find out if they are a match for a searching patient.

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.

SOURCE Be The Match