Cheekswab

Thank you to Hope East Queens for hosting us this morning. Cheekswab isn’t possible without the venues who are willing to host us and we’re grateful for the opportunity to share our story and mission with you.

Like I shared this morning, this was the first speaking event since our son was born about 8 months ago. For about a year Cheekswab has been on a bit of a hiatus, but both Eunice and I are excited to do more events moving forward.

For those who were at service today, these were the steps to registration I outlined during my talk:

1. EDUCATE yourself about bone marrow donation. The need, the procedures, the medical requirements, the commitment. https://www.cheekswab.org and https://www.bethematch.org are great resources to do so.

2. COMMIT to the full donor commitment before you decide to join the registry. If you can’t commit, please do not register.

3. REGISTER online via the online registration form via http://join.cheekswab.org

4. JOIN via completing and returning the swab kit mailed to your house by BeTheMatch. The swab kit should arrive in roughly ~5 business days after completing online registration. Once BeTheMatch receives your swab kit it should take ~6 weeks to process, after which they’ll notify you of your successful registration.

5. SHARE with friends and family about your commitment. Dispel any myths about bone marrow registration in every conversation for the rest of your life. Tell others how and why you’ve joined the lottery to save a life!

Thanks! A lack of minority bone marrow donors is a problem that can be solved in our lifetimes. The more of us who understand the commitment and join the more this problem goes away for all of us.

If you're not already on the bone marrow registry you could be a match for Ji-eun!

Please help get the word out to all the potential life-saving donors out there.