Atlanta
We Are The Cure
For too long, the Black and African American community has sought a cure for sickle cell disease, leukemia and other blood cancers. Well, there is a cure —a blood stem cell transplant from a genetically matched donor of the same ethnic background. So yes, race matters! We have the power to save lives in our own community. But we need more Black and African American donors.
You Can Increase the Odds
Patients are most likely to match a donor who shares their ethnic background.
Black and African American patients have a 29% chance of finding a matching, available donor on the Be The Match Registry®. More Black and African American donors are needed to help increase the odds.
Black or African American
White
Take the First Step To Saving a Life
Join the registry to be listed as a potential blood stem cell donor, ready to save the life of a patient in need of a transplant. You won’t donate until there is a patient who’s matched specifically with you. Here’s how to get started:
- Join the Be The Match Registry online and request a swab kit.
- When you get your kit in the mail, swab your cheek. Return the swab in the envelope (postage already included).
- Tell your friends and family to join the Registry!
Meet Ava
Ava Has Been Looking for a Match for Five Years
10-year-old Ava of Snellville, Ga., had her first pain crisis from sickle cell disease when she was just 5 months old.
Over the past decade, she has been hospitalized over 70 times, and has had her spleen, adenoids, tonsils and gall bladder removed as a result of complications from sickle cell disease.
A blood stem cell or bone marrow transplant from a perfectly matched donor is the only cure for sickle cell disease, but Ava does not have a compatible match in her family or on the Be The Match Registry.
Constance’s Story
Sickle Cell Survivor
Juwan’s Story
Seventeen Year Old, Looking for Donor
It’s Easy to Save a Life
What’s the Donation Process Like?
There are two methods for donating life-saving blood stem cells.
80% of the time, people give through a Peripheral Blood Stem Cell (PBSC) donation; a nonsurgical process similar to donating plasma.
20% of the time, marrow donation takes place in a hospital. The donor receives anesthesia and feels no pain as doctors withdraw liquid marrow from the rear of the pelvic bone.
Donors often say any minor discomfort they experienced was a small price to pay for the opportunity to save someone’s life.
Have more questions? Learn about the donation process, how we protect your DNA, and more.
Lauren’s Story
Blood Stem Cell Donor
Our Partners
We are so thankful for the continued support of the We Are The Cure Atlanta campaign by:
- Children’s Hospital of Atlanta
- City of Atlanta
- Dekalb County
- Emory Hospital
- Gwinnet County
- V-103
- YMCA