The AADP Blog

Khanh left us almost a month. He’s the third patient I’ve ever met since I joined AADP. Though I’ve only met him a couple times, I know how strong, positive, and courageous he is. On September 22^nd, Annie sent out an email saying Khanh has left in the morning. I stared at my monitor for 5 minutes, tears kept running down, and my brain went completely blank. All of a sudden, our office became silent and I’m sure all the staff were going through the same feelings.

On October 25^th, AADP staff went to Khanh’s viewing and burial. It was really hard to see a person that you know, lying down in a coffin with a smile. I wasn’t brave enough to look at him. I tried to hide my guilt and tears under my sunglasses. For the two hours, the same thought had been repeating and repeating in my mind “I hope I could have saved you. What if I set up 10 more drives, registered 200 more people, maybe one of them will be a match. Maybe you can get a transplant earlier, live healthier and longer than I do. I hope I could have done more.” Of course I know this is better for him as he doesn’t have to suffer anymore…… 

Lisa was right. (Lisa is our patient’s wife.) She said “Sometimes God has to take away a good person in order to teach those around him. I’m sure all Khanh’s young friends will have a totally different view about life. If God takes a bad person, nobody cares.” That’s very true. Everyone comes to this world for a reason. Khanh surely impacted a lot of young people and I hope everyone who knows him will always remember him, and treasure whatever you have at this moment. 

P.S. If attending funeral is part of my job duties, I wish we can take this out from the list. I wish we can help each and every patient to find their perfect match. Everyone is unique, but I’m sure no one is that unique. Somebody out there must be somebody’s match. What’s more powerful than having a chance to save someone’s life? Help us spread the word, get more people register and possibly save someone’s LIFE! We can’t complete this mission without your help.

Ruby

Well here we are, at the end of another eventful week. I honestly did not anticipate that the month of October was going to be so busy! I look at our calender numerous times a day and I still cannot believe that there are so many drive events!  

 Next week will mark my three month tenure with AADP. Ever since joining AADP everyday has been a learning experience. Learning about patients, potential donors, drives, fundraising events and the list goes on. I recall from my college graduation a speaker said to us, “Even though you may have ‘graduated’ from school whether it be high school, junior high or college that we should never cease to be students.” 

I think I am blessed to be working for such a honorable cause and at the same time to be educated on a consitent basis. I do not think I could ask for anymore.

Hi Everyone! Its Glenna, checking in with you all.

I think its been almost six months since I formally introduced myself on the AADP Blog, and a year from when I started at AADP. Since then, just as it was when I first started with AADP, its been a whirlwind of events!

Being the fresh college grad last year, I would always get asked “So, what do you do now”. My response was always, “I work for the Asian American Donor Program, and I help recruit more marrow/stem cell donors on the National Registry”. This answer has now changed to “I work for blood cancer patients who are in need of marrow stem cell matches”.

 Yes, I work for the AADP, but really… WHO do I work for? Who do I spend nearly every weekend at drives for, or drive all over northern California, and sometimes fly out of states for? Who do I spend time drafting new flyers, thinking of new ways get people involved, and making sure that the newly registered people are committed donors for?

 Its for the 6,000 patients in the world who search the marrow registries with the hope that a complete stranger will donate to them, so that they can have a second chance at life. Its for the volunteers, who spend countless hours at drives and fundraiser, flyering, only to get shot down 80% of the time. Its for those that have the means and compassion to donate time and money to help spread the word about the need for more minority donors. And its for the volunteer donor who registers, is committed and willing to do anything to help save a stranger.

 These people are my employers. They don’t give me a monetary salary, but they make the work I do, that much less tiring and strenuous. They’re the ones that motivate me to always give 110% in the work that I and the rest of the AADP team does.

Hi - this is Sudeshna - It’s been a little more than 6 months since I joined AADP as its South Asian outreach coordinator … But it’s been such a potpourri of experiences holding drives in colleges, corporations, non-profits, you-name-it  that our roles have stretched way beyond the walls of separate racial or ethnic communities…

We are a team dedicated to help any minority or multi-racial patient (in need of a transplant) find a match - with the hope that at some point whoever needs a match will have an equal chance of getting one (irrespective of race or ethnicty) - We strive for patients who have not only become personal friends through months of working together for a common cause - But also for those who remain unheard, overwhelmed by treatment procedures.

Some of the amazing stories that re-energize us from time to time are like this one - an AADP supporter plans to hike to the peak of Mount Whitney in California, 14,497 feet above sea level (the highest point in the lower 48 states) and raise funds for recruitment groups such as AADP. And then there are all our volunteers who work with us tirelessly to build awareness on marrow/stem cell donation. You are our inspiration and instrumental to whatever we have achieved so far!

So here’s something that we have to share with all of you  -  At our office in Alameda there is a busy buzz on right now…In the midst of all our drives, September Golf Tournament, and everything else we are working on something new - Care Packages! These care packages will have games, movies, puzzles, and self care items which we are hoping will help our patients through the trying treatment period. We would love it if you could help us put these together - for more information please visit http://www.aadp.org/pages/page.php?pageid=71

Thank You!

Hello everyone my name is James and I recently joined the AADP group as the new Recruitment Assistant.  I was born in Calamba, Laguna in the Philippines. I arrived here in the Bay Area when I was six years old and received my U.S. citizenship just last year! I joined AADP about a month ago and I would have to say that my first month went by very nicely. I am a CSU Hayward/East Bay graduate in 2006. Before arriving in AADP I was a school teacher for a private school located in Palo Alto. I recently had my 25th birthday with some close friends and had a great time!

When first hearing about AADP I did not know what to expect because I knew little to nothing about bone marrow and stem cell donations. I was aware about blood donations, organ donations and their importance but I did not hear too much about marrow donations.  After working here for a month my views on things have changed. Even though a month may not be a long time for some a month can seem like forever to others.
I also had the pleasure of attending our Region conference on August 18th whichI thought was pretty informative. After being partially educated about AADP and its functions I have visions of helping to recruit a ridiculous amount of potential donors. Even though it might be a little “far fetched” I think it would be awesome to strive for an immeasurable goal.

hihi! I’m AADP’s Chinese coordinator Ruby Law. I’m originally from Hong Kong and speak Cantonese and Mandarin.

 I joined AADP in January 2008. Can’t believe it’s only 3 months!! It seems like I already joined for a year. In the past 3 months, I had the opportunity to outreach different minority communities and it really opened up my eyes. When I was a kid, my mum always tell me that I’m the lucky one because I have the ability to help others. After joining AADP, I finally understand what she meant. Yes. We are all lucky to be able to help others. Honestly, when I first started, I cried after each drive. (I know our other coordinators did the same when they first started!!) I feel like I want to help our patients, but what we can do is really limited. Finding a match is never easy, but it motivates me to work harder to outreach.

 Some people see us as salesperson, but the truth is, we are way more than just a salesperson. We never force people to register and we never work only for quantity goals. I believed AADP is a group of committed and kind people who help as much as we can to save lives. April is our busy month and we all have to work at drives almost 7 days a week. Our primary goal is not counting the number of people that we can register, but to educate the public about bone marrow donation. I believed after they understand the real reason behind donation, which is to save a life, they will be motivated and committed to join us. I hear patients’ stories all the time, I asked myself “what if I am one of them? or what if one of my family members diagnosed with leukemia? will I refuse to donate because I’m afraid of blood?” Of course not. So, if you are able to donate to your own family members, just take one more step to register and donate to others’ family members! Ask youself, if you were a patient, what would you feel if someone refuse to donate because they are scared of blood? It’s a matter of life and death. And the truth is, the registration process and donation process are painless! More than 6000 people are searching for a match everyday. You might be the one!! You can save someone’s life!! Please do register and this might be the most meaningful thing you do in your lifetime. Check out our drive schedule or request a home kit. Thank you so much for joining us. It’s already 12 am, our drive starts at 9:30am tomorrow. Have to sleep now. Hope to see you tomorrow at our drive!

Hello everyone!!  The Board of Directors would like to thank you all for supporting Laugh for Lives.  Ticket holders, media sponsors, food sponsors and money sponsors, it would not have been possible with out you all.  A special thank you goes to Alan Maravilla, this was his idea, and for helping us get Rex Navarrete to come out and make us all laugh.  Thank you to all of the comedians, you folks are terrific.

Although we didn’t reach our goal of registering 200 new donors, it was a fantastic turn out, registering over 80.

We hope to see many of you at the second annual Laugh for Lives next year around the same time of the year, so look for the postcard.

Wow, I can’t believe its already been six months, since Ive joined AADP! Its been such a whirlwind of an experience that I still feel like such a newbie to this community.

So, let me start out by officially, OFFICIALLY introducing myself. My name is Glenna Lee, and I like to plan bone marrow drives. =P. Usually when I use this greeting to family and friends, I get an odd response. Despite the fact that the introduction has an air of being at an AA meeting, I usually get a confused look or a look of terror starring back at me.

The confusion comes from my academic background and my current carreer. In college, my major was genetics and plant biology, very science and reasearch oriented with very little exposure to social and racial issues, or non profits in general.

However what my friends and family may not have known about me is that I have always enjoyed volunteering (from the begining of high school, to all throughout college) and have always had an interest in the API community, not only because I am part of this community, but because of the lack of resources available to this community, especially in the health/medical field. Ultimately, all of this led me to AADP, not to find a job (although I needed one), but to volunteer and learn more about the national registry.

Being part of such an amazing network of people has been a great post college experience for me. It has taught me the ins and outs of how non-profit organizations work, given me the opportunity to work with an amazing community, and has allowed me to meet some pretty amazing people.

So without making this entry too long, im excited to meet everyone and hope that you will be motivated to go out there an volunteer for something that you have an interest and passion for.

Until next time!

P.S. dont forget to buy your tickets to AADP’s benefit comedy show, Laugh for Lives. Tickets are selling out pretty fast so get them while theyre still available! =).

It’s been a slow start for us this January 2008. We haven’t managed to schedule many drives in part due to the weather. We’ll be having a drive on the 12th - Livermore Hindu Temple - in partnership with a group of very kind, supportive and dedicated volunteers. Patients like Bevin Varughese, Sonia Kumar, Rohan Karer, and so many others are now searching for their own donors. And while Vinay and Sameer’s campaign have contributed so much for so many patients out there, there is still much work to be done. Consider this - while we managed to register 119,788 South Asians on the national registry - there are millions of South Asians currently living in the US. There is also no national registry in India to turn to. So, with an average chance of 1 in 20,000 to find a donor match, there still is much work that needs to be done.

A couple other drives I wanted to talk about were the Chua An Lac Temple drive, and a drive with the Social Security Administration. We’re trying to ramp up outreach in the Vietnamese community. Michelle Maykin and her family have helped tremendously in making headway, but we are particularly inspired now by two other patients as well - Hang Nguyen - a young Vietnamese mother of 2 living in New York, and Vinh Luu - an 8 year old boy from San Jose with Thalassemia. Thanks to Michelle, her mom and the rest of the volunteers from Project Michelle, we hope to continue outreach.

Finally - we’re also collaborating with the NMDP on having a drive at the Social Security Administration in Richmond. This is such a great move on the SSA’s part to support having a drive at their facility and to give their employees the chance to register.

A few closing things - look out for our FIRST EVER COMEDY SHOW fundraiser - Laugh for Lives featuring an all-Asian cast of comedians starring Rex Navarrete, Jennifer Lin, Kevin Camia, Tessie Chua, Nitin Kant and Randall Park - all amazing comedians. It’ll be on February 22, 2008 - check going.com/laughforlives for more details.