The document discusses an upcoming bone marrow donor drive hosted by the District in partnership with Be The Match Registry at City of Hope. The drive aims to register more donors to help patients find matches, including Steve Robbins, a District employee undergoing treatment. The registration process takes less than 15 minutes and involves providing contact information, a health history, and a DNA sample. Donors may later be contacted if matched to a patient and asked to donate bone marrow through a nonsurgical outpatient procedure. The District allows employees to participate in the drive during work hours without using sick or vacation time.

1. It’s not easy being a
Match maker!
At any given time, 6,000 critically ill people throughout the
world search the “Be The Match” Registry for a donor
Marrow Donor Drive match—that match could be you.
Wednesday, June 13 Join the “Be The Match” Registry and participate in the
District-sponsored bone marrow donor drive conducted by
Noon to 5:00 pm City of Hope. The entire registration and sample tissue
process takes less than 15 minutes.
Palm Desert Administration
Employees in Coachella, Palm Desert, West Shores and all
Training Rooms WRPs are encouraged to participate, including your friends
and family in the community. Employees should work with
their supervisors to coordinate timing for donations. The
District allows you to participate and donate on company
time, including your drive to and from Palm Desert.
For more information contact
Gabino Cabanilla, ext. 2243 To sign up, send anyone in HR an Email with your name and
time you plan to participate in the drive.

2. Register for the Marrow Donor Drive:
The Chance of a Lifetime…
The District is partnering with Be The Match Registry at City of Hope
Marrow Donor Drive
to register bone marrow donors. Our primary objective for the drive
is to register donors to find a suitable match for Steve Robbins, our When: Wednesday, June 13
General Manager-Chief Engineer. As you all know, Steve is undergoing Time: Noon to 5:00 p.m.
chemotherapy at City of Hope due to leukemia. Steve’s brother was
Where: Training Rooms
tested and was not an acceptable match for his bone marrow
transplant. So, we are hopeful that many of you will consider Palm Desert Admin
registering and, perhaps, one of you may be an acceptable match
for Steve.
It’s about helping patients
Be The Match Registry is the largest, most diverse marrow and blood stem cell registry in the world—facilitating
critically needed transplants for patients with leukemia and other life-threatening diseases across the country.
Be The Match will register potential donors, perform testing and enter you into the national donor registry.
The Registry has been helping patients receive transplants for more than 25 years.
Of the 10 million donors, less than half are minority donors. Because tissue types are inherited, patients are
most likely to match someone of their own race or ethnicity. This means that minorities have a lesser chance of
finding a bone marrow match. There is a great need to add Hispanics, American Indians, African-Americans,
Asians and persons of one or more ethnic or racial background.
By becoming a registered donor, you may be the right match for a child
in Florida, a mother in Costa Rica or even your next door neighbor. At any given time,
6,000 critically ill people
If more minorities became bone marrow matches, it would create a throughout the world
more diverse registry by adding new tissue types that are currently not search the registry for a
available and thereby increasing the chances of all patients in need of donor match—that match
marrow transplants. could be you.
It’s about finding a match
Be The Match offers people the unique opportunity to help a patient by donating bone marrow. For our donor
drive, our primary objective is to educate the public about the need for more potential marrow donors and to
find a suitable match for patients, like Steve. You will be entered into the Be The Match Registry and perhaps one
day be called upon to help save another person’s life. Thousands of patients with blood cancers like leukemia
and lymphoma, sickle cell and other life-threatening diseases depend on Be The Match Registry to find a match.

3. It’s about being a part of the solution The District allows you
Step 1. Join the Be The Match Registry to participate and donate
To sign up for the District-sponsored donor drive, send HR an Email on company time. This
with your name and preferred time to donate. The drive will be includes your driving time to
conducted by the City of Hope on Wednesday, June 13, 2012 the donor drive. You do not
from Noon to 5:00 p.m. in the Palm Desert Administration Training use your sick leave or
Rooms. The entire process takes less than 15 minutes. At the drive, vacation time to participate.
you will provide your contact information, complete a brief health
questionnaire and sign a consent form. Employees in Coachella, Palm Desert, West Shores and all
WRPs are encouraged to participate, including your friends and family in the community.
Employees should work with their supervisors to coordinate the timing for donations.
After registration, the Be The Match Community Outreach Specialist will ask you to provide a sample of your
DNA by swabbing the inside of your mouth to obtain tissue cells for testing. The Registry will categorize your
sample and enter it into the worldwide database. Any information you provide the City of Hope for the
Registry, as well as the District, during this donor drive is protected health information.
Step 2. Get Ready to Donate
If you match a patient, the Registry will contact and ask you about your About 70% of patients in
health and schedule more testing to ensure you are the best match for need of a transplant do not
have a matching donor
the patient in need.
in their family.
Step 3. Donate Marrow
The patient’s doctor requests one of two types of donation, depending on what is best for the patient. The most
common method of donation is a nonsurgical procedure that takes place at a blood center or outpatient
hospital unit. For five days leading up to donation, you will be given injections of a drug called filgrastim to
increase the number of blood-forming cells in your bloodstream. Your blood is then removed through a needle
in one arm and passed through a machine that separates out the blood-forming cells or Peripheral Blood Stem
Cells (PBSC). The remaining blood is returned to you through the other arm. Your blood-forming cells are back
to their normal levels within four to six weeks.
The second type of marrow collection is a surgical outpatient procedure that takes place in a hospital while
you’re under anesthesia. Doctors use a needle to withdraw liquid marrow from the back of your pelvic bone.
Step 4: Recovery and Follow-Up
Recovery times vary depending on the individual and type of donation. Most donors are able to return to work,
school and other activities within one to 7 days after donation. The Registry will follow-up with you until you
are able to resume normal activity.
Whether you are a match or not one at this time, your registration with Be The Match is the first step in
narrowing the gap to find a suitable blood marrow donor for a family member or someone living in another
country. You can become part of the solution in helping patients find a match. If you are identified as a matched
donor, you may be the only person who can provide lifesaving marrow to that one person. So, consider
donating on Wednesday, June 13, from Noon to 5:00 p.m. and sign up now. We all have the power within
us to help and the power to give hope.