FIRST-EVER BONE MARROW DRIVE, BREAST EXAM DEMONSTRATION

Breast Cancer Awareness Sunday hosts its first-ever bone marrow drive, breast exam demonstration, local survivor panel discussion for at-risk women

Burlingame, CA, USA (Oct. 2, 2003) — Mills-Peninsula’s African American Community Health Advisory Committee (AACHAC) will host it’s 9th Annual Breast Cancer Awareness Sunday Oct. 12, 1 – 4 p.m., Hendrickson Auditorium, Mills Health Center, 100 S. San Mateo Drive, San Mateo. The program provides free breast-exam instruction and demonstration, a fashion show featuring breast cancer survivors, panel discussion with local breast cancer survivors, community resource tables and a light lunch.

Gail Thornton, longtime breast cancer survivor and Awareness Sunday fashion show model, now needs a bone marrow match, according to Gloria Brown, AACHAC chair. “Our committee has decided to support Thornton and others who are waiting for a match by hosting our first-ever bone marrow donor drive,” she said.

Blood Centers of the Pacific, in cooperation with the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP), will make it possible for people to donate marrow not only to Thornton, but to any others worldwide through an international registry.

Those who need marrow are more likely to find a match among their own racial or ethnic groups, according to Blood Centers of the Pacific. Minorities face a greater challenge in finding donor matches than whites, according to NMDP.

“ African American and other minority donors are urgently needed,” Brown said. “We urge everyone to come and get screened. It’s quick and easy. You could be the one who can share the gift of life with someone else.”

The sample collection process takes no more than 10 minutes, on average. Once collected, donor blood samples are tissue typed and the donor is assigned an index number to protect confidentiality. The information is entered into a searchable database where it can be compared to a patient's tissue type.

About Breast Cancer Awareness Sunday
Breast Cancer Awareness Sunday is an annual program of the African American Community Health Advisory Committee and Mills-Peninsula Health Services, with support from the American Cancer Society, San Mateo County Unit, the Cancer Information Service, and other community San Mateo community businesses.

About Mills-Peninsula Health Services
Mills-Peninsula Health Services, comprised of Mills Health Center, San Mateo, and Peninsula Medical Center, Burlingame, is part of Sutter Health, one of the nation's leading not-for-profit networks of community-based health care providers, delivering high quality care in more than 100 Northern California communities. Sutter Health supports more than two dozen locally run acute care hospitals and physician organizations, medical research facilities, physician and nurse education programs, and region-wide home health, hospice and occupational health services.

Contact: Lisa Grubb
Planning & Marketing
grubbl@sutterhealth.org
(650) 696-5307

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