Tis better to give than to receive.
Now that Thanksgiving is over, we can officially say that the holiday season is in full swing! I’ve always been someone who enjoys giving a gift more than I like receiving them. (I know, so cliché). I find so much joy watching a loved one open a present I carefully selected or created for them. This year, along with giving to my friends and family, I’m also looking for more meaningful ways to give.
I was watching Chelsea on Netflix and she had Kristen Bell on as a guest. During her interview, Kristen talked about how she recently added herself to the Gift of Life Marrow Registry. Watching her tell her story about how she registered to be a donor inspired me to learn more. I hit pause on the show, and immediately went to Gift of Life’s website.
Gift of Life is a national, public, not-for-profit registry facilitating transplants for patients in the United States and abroad.* Patients who have a blood disease, like leukemia for example, often times need a blood or bone marrow transplant to save their life. If a match can’t be found within that patient’s family, a search is made for a donor on a registry like Gift of Life. 80 percent of volunteers donate blood stem cells; 20 percent donate marrow (primarily for pediatric patients).* Contrary to common belief, it’s actually not as painful to donate as you may imagine. Here is a short video which explains how it works:
You would not believe how easy it is to be added to the marrow registry. All you do is fill out a short questionnaire on Gift of Life’s donor registration, and they will send you a swab kit. Once you receive the swab kit, follow the directions inside, and send it back to Gift of Life. Yes, it is that easy! And you could potentially save someones life if you are a match. How amazing is that? You literally could be giving someone the gift of life.
This holiday season, please consider registering to be a donor to Gift of Life. It takes less then 10 minutes of your time. If you do, please share photos of you and your swab kit on Facebook for Instagram with #swab2save and tag me in them.
Let’s give the gift of life together this holiday season!
Register here: https://www.giftoflife.org/register
* Source: https://www.giftoflife.org/page/content/aboutus
