Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Queens Library at Flushing to Host "Be The Match" Marrow Registry on March 28th

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Queens Library HealthLink Flushing Cancer Action Council and the New York Blood Center invite healthy adults to give someone a second chance at a healthy life by registering for the BE THE MATCH Marrow Registry. Registration will take place on Monday, March 28, 2011, between 2 and 8 pm at Queens Library at Flushing, 41-17 Main Street and Kissena Boulevard. Registration is quick, safe, painless and free. To sign up, please call Queens Library at Flushing, (718) 661 - 1200, extension 0.

Each day, thousands of people with serious illnesses search for a bone marrow donor to make a life-saving transplant possible. Because tissue types are inherited, patients are most likely to match someone of their own race and ethnicity. Donors representing diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds are needed so that every patient has a second chance at life. A patient's likelihood of having a suitable donor on the Be The Match Registry who is willing and able to donate on their behalf is estimated to range from 66% to 93%, depending on race and ethnicity. Most patients (about 70%) do not find a match in their families. They need your help.

Volunteers need to be between the ages of 18 and 60, be willing to donate to any patient in need and meet the health guidelines. Registration only means that the volunteer will be in a database for possible contact at a later date. You are not committing to donate. For more information about The National Marrow Donor Program, please call 1-800-MARROW-2 or visit BeTheMatch.org.

Queens Library HealthLink is a collaborative initiative of Queens Library, the American Cancer Society, the Queens Cancer Center of Queens Hospital and Albert Einstein College of Medicine. It is a five-year federally funded research project based in Queens Library that will explore the potential to partner with libraries as a vehicle for community health outreach to fight cancer.

Queens Library is an independent, not-for-profit corporation and is not affiliated with any other library. Queens Library serves a population of 2.3 million in the most ethnically diverse county in the U.S. With 23 million items in circulation for FY 2010, the Library has among the highest circulations of any public library system in the world. For more information about programs, services, locations, events and news, visit the Queens Library Web site at www.queenslibrary.org or phone 718-990-0700. Queens Library. Enrich Your Life (r).

Joanne King, Queens Library
89-11 Merrick Boulevard, Jamaica, NY 11432
718-990-0704; fax 718-990-5147;

joanne.king@queenslibrary.org