It is so important for President Obama to proclaim a "National Day of Swabbing" because swabbing to become a bone marrow donor is an extremely important topic that needs to be addressed on a national level. 1000's of patients are diagnosed with a blood disorder like leukemia, lymphoma, sickle cell anemia, and are in desperate need of a bone marrow transplant. The problem with this is that there are not enough bone marrow donors on the registry to save the lives of these patients.

Statistics: Only 4 out of 10 patients find a match,

                   for minorities this number is 1 out of 10.

1000's die because there life saving match is not on the registry. The are many reasons for the lack of donors on the registry.

1. Most people out there believe that the procedure is painful which it is not at all true. There are 2     different procedures that come with minimal pain and minimal side effects.

2. There are a lot of people across the country that do not have a clue about the registry and the crisis the patients face.

3. I feel that people do not realize the number of patients suffering from blood cancers and blood disorders and the fact that Bone Marrow Transplant's can help treat approximately 75 different illnesses.

            My son Luis Danvers has leukemia and may need a bone marrow transplant. An organization in honor of Luis called the Luis Danvers Leukemia Fund along with several other patients there families and friends would like to have this "National Day of Swabbing".

Goals:

1. We want to educate and bring about public awareness about the Bone marrow registry.

2. We want people to understand the enormity of the widespread problems caused by the lack of new potential bone marrow donors.

3. We will like to make the public aware of the importance of "swabbing" in order to save a life.

The public needs to understand that there is a critical need for to build the registry in order to help lower the mortality rate. This will be done through the staging of social events, classes, workshops, exhibitions, recreational entertainment, etc., designed to socialize and familiarize the American people with the plight of the lack of new potential bone marrow donors.