What is blood cancer?
Every 4 minutes, someone in the United States is diagnosed with blood cancer. So, what is blood cancer?
Blood cancer is a form of cancer that can appear in the form of Lymphoma, Multiple Myeloma, Leukemia, etc., and affects the bone marrow and/or blood of the individual, causing them to feel weak with cold/flu-like symptoms. This disease can be battled by a form of donation, which could consist of a blood transfusion and/or a shot to the hip bone to remove stem cells. The chances of a patient with blood cancer matching a donor is equivalent to winning the "genetic lottery". For most diseases, the recipient and donor must have at least 4 matching HLA's (human leukocyte antigens) for the donation to be successful. For blood cancer, the recipient and donor must have 10 matching HLA's!
Blood cancer is a form of cancer that can appear in the form of Lymphoma, Multiple Myeloma, Leukemia, etc., and affects the bone marrow and/or blood of the individual, causing them to feel weak with cold/flu-like symptoms. This disease can be battled by a form of donation, which could consist of a blood transfusion and/or a shot to the hip bone to remove stem cells. The chances of a patient with blood cancer matching a donor is equivalent to winning the "genetic lottery". For most diseases, the recipient and donor must have at least 4 matching HLA's (human leukocyte antigens) for the donation to be successful. For blood cancer, the recipient and donor must have 10 matching HLA's!
The swabbing process
In order to determine if a donor matches up with a patient, that donor must make a conscious decision to become a part of the Delete Blood Cancer registry, and send a sample of their saliva and cheek tissue to the Delete Blood Cancer organization. In order to obtain a sample and send it off to the organization, one must fill out a few forms, swab both of their cheeks, then place both swabs in a special sample envelope, and send it off to Delete Blood Cancer. In order to open this opportunity up to the community, the RHS HOSA chapter has received a swab kit with all of the necessary tools to swab anyone 18+ who would like to potentially save a life.
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Swab week, january 26th-30th, 2015
During swab week, HOSA members will be standing outside of the RHS cafeteria doors after school from 3:30-4:00pm, and will be taking donations and swabbing individuals who would like to be on the registry for Delete Blood Cancer. If you have any questions as to if you qualify to be a donor, please contact us at our email, [email protected].
During first period, HOSA members will go around collecting money in specially made jars from anyone who is interested in donating to Delete Blood Cancer. By the end of the week, the first period with the most money earned will receive a donut party, generously provided by Square Donuts here in Richmond!
Note: each day, a different monetary value will be collected:
Monday- pennies
Tuesday- nickels
Wednesday- dimes
Thursday- quarters
Friday- dollar bills
UPDATE: Thanks to RHS students and members of the community, HOSA was able to raise over $400 for Delete Blood Cancer. We also swabbed 39 individuals for the bone marrow registry!
During first period, HOSA members will go around collecting money in specially made jars from anyone who is interested in donating to Delete Blood Cancer. By the end of the week, the first period with the most money earned will receive a donut party, generously provided by Square Donuts here in Richmond!
Note: each day, a different monetary value will be collected:
Monday- pennies
Tuesday- nickels
Wednesday- dimes
Thursday- quarters
Friday- dollar bills
UPDATE: Thanks to RHS students and members of the community, HOSA was able to raise over $400 for Delete Blood Cancer. We also swabbed 39 individuals for the bone marrow registry!
Donor drive, march 21st, 2015
In order to open this event up to the public, RHS HOSA is hosting its first Donor Drive! On March 21st, any member of the community is able to help donate to the cause, and/or get themselves swabbed. This event will take place in Tiernan Center, the main gym area of Richmond High School. In your honor, we will add your name to one of our 'blood drops', which we will display in the high school to show how our chapter, and the individuals who have so generously donated, has made a difference in the world by deleting blood cancer one drop at a time.
our mission:
Each year or so, the National HOSA Executive Council chooses an organization to pair up with, and then encourages all HOSA chapters across the globe to take part in raising money and awareness for the organization and what they stand for. This year, the Executive Council chose Delete Blood Cancer, an organization created with the intent of deleting blood cancer by finding matches for patients in need, and expanding the registry list. Our chapter decided to answer the call, and has been raising money for this cause since late December! At the State Leadership Conference 2015 this April, RHS HOSA members will submit their funds and hours worked under the event 'National Service Project' and will be recognized for their efforts in deleting blood cancer. Our goal as a chapter is to gift Delete Blood cancer with $1,000 and 100 potential donors signed on to the Delete Blood Cancer registry.