Grossmont College student to run Give a Spit About Cancer drive on May 9

Every three minutes, someone in the United States is diagnosed with a blood cancer like leukemia. For many of these people, their only hope for a cure is a bone marrow transplant. Yet 70% of people who need a transplant do not have a fully matched donor in their family. They rely on a complete stranger for marrow donation to save their life, more than 95% of the time people between the ages of 18 and 44 are selected as a donor by physicians.

Every three minutes, someone in the United States is diagnosed with a blood cancer like leukemia. For many of these people, their only hope for a cure is a bone marrow transplant. Yet 70% of people who need a transplant do not have a fully matched donor in their family. They rely on a complete stranger for marrow donation to save their life, more than 95% of the time people between the ages of 18 and 44 are selected as a donor by physicians.

DoSomething.org, one of the largest organizations for young people and social change, and Johnson & Johnson are teaming up for “Give a Spit About Cancer,” an effort to get more young and diverse people to join the Be The Match® Registry as potential bone marrow donors.The national initiative recently launched with comedian and actor Hannibal Buress who joined the campaign by recording a PSA encouraging young and diverse people to join the bone marrow donor registry.

On May 9, Charlene Mae Lubong will be holding a bone marrow registration drive at Grossmont College as part of the Give a Spit About Cancer campaign to activate students to join the Be The Match® Registry.  Over 50 other colleges across the country are joining the campaign by sponsoring local drives on their campus.  The local drives will allow students to learn more about what it means to donate bone marrow, by speaking with Be The Match® experts, as well as see the seamless process of Giving Their Spit, to  join the registry on-site.

“This campaign gained me a new perspective about the need for bone marrow donors,” said Charlene. “I think the main reason why many people opt out to be donors is because of the procedures that go with it. Hopefully this campaign will educate many people, especially those around my age, that those procedures only have temporary side effects, but the newfound hope we give to blood cancer patients will leave a lasting effect.”

Knowing the life and death importance of marrow transplants and the unique opportunity that young people have to contribute to the cause, DoSomething.org is excited to be tackling this issue again. In the past, they’ve registered thousands of potential donors to the bone marrow registry, resulting in more matches made and more lives saved.

Another way to support the "Give a Spit About Cancer” campaign is by downloading the Donate a Photo app available on the iTunes App Store and in Google Play. For every photo taken in the app before June 14, Johnson & Johnson will donate $1 to DoSomething.org to support Give a Spit About Cancer.

“The generosity of the DoSomething community is incredibly powerful,” said Aria Finger, CEO and Chief Old Person at DoSomething.org. “We are so excited to partner with Johnson & Johnson, a company that continuously demonstrates its commitment to advancing human health and wellness for people everywhere. Together, we will literally save lives.”

To find out more about Give a Spit About Cancer, text SPIT to 38383 or visit DoSomething.org/spit.

About Johnson & Johnson

Caring for the world one person at a time inspires and unites the people of Johnson & Johnson. We embrace research and science – bringing innovative ideas, products and services to advance the health and wellbeing of people. Our approximately 126,400 employees at more than 230 Johnson & Johnson operating companies work with partners in health care to touch the lives of over a billion people every day, throughout the world.

About DoSomething.org

DoSomething.org is the largest tech company exclusively for young people and social change. We’re activating 5.5 million young people (and counting!) to make positive change, online and off, in every US area code and in over 131 countries. When you join DoSomething.org, you join something bigger than yourself. You team up with the young people who have clothed half of America’s youth in homeless shelters. And cleaned up 3.7 million cigarette butts from the streets. And run the largest youth-led sports equipment drive in the world. And more! You’ve got the power and the passion to make an impact — we’ll help you get it done.

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 healthcare 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.