Asian Majority

Hi all, here is another way to help out the Asian Community. If you happen to be in the Washington DC area, drop by to help out. Read on below:

Project Michelle – APA Marrow Donor Drive

When: June 12, 2008, 5pm – 8pm

Where:
AAAS Building Lobby
1200 New York Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20005
(details below)

Why:

Michelle Maykin is a 26-year old Vietnamese/Chinese-American woman living in the Bay Area. Diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (cancer of the blood) in February 2007, Michelle underwent chemotherapy for seven months and battled the cancer into remission… but recently relapsed a few weeks ago and now desperately needs to find a bone marrow match in order to save her life.

While her donor may not necessarily be of Asian descent, her highest chance for a match lies within the APA community. Did you know that only 3% of all Asian-Americans are registered in the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP)? Consider this – A recent NMDP report estimates that Caucasian patients searching the donor registry have an 80% chance of finding a match, but for people of minority race, more importantly those of South Asian descent, the chance of finding a match drops as low as 20%. The Worldwide Bone Marrow Registry indicates that fewer than 0.1% of the ethnically South Asian population is registered. In this country alone, there are over 14 million APA individuals in the country that likely do not even know that they have the ability to save a life. The miniscule number of Asian-American donors makes Michelle’s search for a donor match a very very desperate one…. we need as MANY Asian-Americans as possible to step up and become registered donors.. for Michelle, and for the thousands of people like her.

The first step in becoming a hero requires a cheek swab and ten minutes of your time. If you are a match, the transplant can often be done entirely through the blood. We need to find a match for Michelle by JUNE 21. The outcome is simple — someone lives because of your donation. You could be the one to save Michelle. Will you?

Event Details:
The nearest Metro station is Metro Center on the Red, Orange, and Blue Lines (12th and G Street Exit). You will need to go through the main entrance of the AAAS building on the corner of 12th and H, since the New York Ave entrance will be closed.

After visiting with us, you are also invited to attend the APA networking happy hour at the Regatta Raw Bar nearby. Many APA young professional orgs will be at this happy hour, and the manager there has kindly agreed to extend all happy hour specials to 10pm for our group, in support of Project Michelle. We will have a list of the happy hour discounts available at the event.

Regatta Raw Bar, Marriott at Metro Center
775 12th Street NW
Washington, DC 20005

We have also negotiated some dinner discounts at nearby restaurants who are also in support of Project Michelle. Here is the running list, and there will likely be more available by the evening of the event. Come see us at the event for a coupon.
Haad Thai Restaurant – 11th/New York Ave – 15% off
Ristorante Luigino (www.luigino.com) – 12th/H St – 15% off
Sushi Aoi (www.thesushiaoi.com) – 11th/New York Ave – 15% off

More information about Michelle can be found at her website http://www.projectmichelle.com. If you would like to volunteer for this event or future events, or if you have specific questions about this event or the marrow donation process, please do not hesitate to contact me directly. Many thanks to all for your overwhelming support. Let’s support Michelle in the fight of her life.

One love,
Jeanne
Project Michelle, DC Coordinator

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