I just spoke on the phone with a Donor Services Assistant at The Gift of Life. This is an organization that created a bone marrow registry in the hopes of finding a cure for a young man dying of cancer in 1991.
In 1994 I was living in Tokyo, Japan. At that time a member of the registry came to the Jewish Community Center and took samples of two of my tissue antigens for their bone marrow registry. According to their website, www.giftoflife.org, Gift of LIfe was "established by Jay Feinberg in 1991. The Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation is a world leader facilitating bone marrow and blood stem cell transplants for children and adults suffering from life-threatening illnesses such as leukemia and lymphoma."
Fast forward to 2008. I no longer live in Tokyo, Japan. It doesn't matter because somewhere, a 41-year-old man suffers from Acute Myelogeneous Leukemia and requires a bone marrow transplant. The registry believes I am a possible match. They search the globe and track me down in New York City. They ask me a series of questions about my health history and request permission to take a sample of a third tissue antigen to see how close a match I may be for this man. I am thinking, "I have a chance to help save a life. Of course, I'll do anything to do this."
In 1994, I registered with Gift of LIfe in Tokyo because I thought it was the right thing to do. Since that time, one of my younger brothers has had a very serious bout with cancer. Another family member has had breast cancer. Countless neighbors, co-workers, and acquaintances have also had cancer. Cancer is currently an incurable disease. It isn't cured; it just goes into remission, hopefully for a very long time.
At our school, Ms. Choi is coordinating a fund raiser for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital,(http://www.mathathon.org/kids_stjude.shtml). Students at East-West have volunteered to do a certain number of math problems in exchange for adults sponsoring their efforts. All proceeds go to fund cancer research. Ms. Choi makes daily announcements to our school body, cajoling students to sign up for the math-a-thon. Fundraising is hard work.
Cancer is a global scourge. Created by a person's own body, cancer cuts across all populations. It doesn't care what ethnic group you are, what religion you belong to, how much money you have, or what language you speak at home. Cancer teaches us that we human beings are all connected. The Gift of Life Foundation and St Jude Children's Research Hospital remind us that not only are we human beings all connected, but that we have a responsiblity for each other. Cancer reminds us of our responsibilities as world citizens.
I will share my bone marrow to save a life. You too can save a life by registering with Gift of Life and/or by supporting Ms. Choi in her efforts to fundraise for cancer research. At East-West School we teach our children their responsibilities as global citizens.
If you are reading this blog, I urge you to support our school's Math-a-thon by sponsoring a student in our school. Not sure how to do it? Send me an email: bsherma2@schools.nyc.gov.
PS- If our students raise $4000, I have promised them that I'll spend one night sleeping on the roof of the school building.
