ASSEMBLYMAN KEITH L. WRIGHT TO REGISTER BONE MARROW DONORS FOR 11-YEAR OLD SHANNON TAVAREZ

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Shana Melius
Preserve Our Legacy, Inc
P: 877.778.3623 ext 702
F: 718.425.8983
shana.melius@preserveourlegacy.org

ASSEMBLYMAN KEITH L. WRIGHT
TO REGISTER BONE MARROW DONORS
FOR
11-YEAR OLD SHANNON TAVAREZ
AT HARLEM CHILDREN’S ZONE
JULY 31, 2010

New York, N.Y.-(July 27, 2010)- It was announced today that Assemblyman Keith L. Wright will assist Preserve Our Legacy, Inc. and Icla Da Silva Foundation in registering bone marrow donors at Harlem Children’s Zone on July 31, 2010, from 12:00 pm-5:00 pm.
Shannon Tavarez
11-year old Shannon Tavarez, who was performing as Young Nala in “The Lion King on Broadway”, was diagnosed with AML Leukemia and is fighting her cancer with daily chemo treatments. She is in need of a life-saving bone marrow donor drive. Shannon is Dominican and African-American. Therefore, it will be harder for her to find a donor. Presently, Hispanics represent 9%, African-Americans represent 8%, while Caucasians represent close to 80% of the National Registry.

Icla da Silva Foundation
The Icla da Silva Foundation, a nonprofit organization under section 501(c) 3 of the IRS Code, was established in June of 1992 after the death of Icla da Silva, a thirteen-year-old Brazilian girl who had leukemia. She died after intense efforts by her family, friends and neighbors to find a matching donor.
The mission of the Icla da Silva Foundation is to save lives by recruiting bone marrow donors and by providing support services to children and adults with leukemia and other diseases treatable by marrow transplants. Icla da Silva is the largest Recruitment Center for the Be The Match Registry.

Preserve Our Legacy, Inc.
P.O.L’s mission is to educate minorities about the benefits of stem cells and treatment options they provide for health disparities. In 2006, the founders of MMA, Brett and Shana Melius met then 2-year old Jaden Hilton. At the time, Jaden was battling Leukemia, which inspired MMA to begin working with DKMS to find a donor for Jaden. Despite their efforts, Jaden lost his battle with Leukemia on January 29, 2007. After this devastating loss, MMA, Inc. heightened its efforts to build awareness especially amongst minorities about the need for those who are affected by leukemia, sickle cell anemia, heart disease, diabetes and other diseases at higher rates throughout the US. In an effort to fulfill the mission of educating minorities, Jaden’s Law was formed. P.O.L partners with various organizations to increase awareness within the community.

Jaden’s Law
This bill, which is designated as Jaden’s Law, is designed to promote awareness among patients of their option to become bone marrow and peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) donors. This bill will help increase awareness within the minority community to increase the numbers within the National Registry.

Jaden’s Law passed on the New Jersey Assembly on May 20, 2010 and on the New Jersey Senate on June 10, 2010. New York Assemblyman Keith L. Wright introduced Jaden’s Law in New York in July 2010. http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?bn=A11610.

Donor Drive

Location: Harlem Children Zone, 35 E 125th St, Cafeteria, NY, NY 10035
Date: July 31, 2010
Time: 12:00 PM-5:00 PM
Donation: Just a swab on both cheeks, complete in 3 minutes

Celebrities that registered as bone marrow donors:
http://www.thisis50.com/profiles/blogs/50-cent-and-tony-yayo-register

For more interviews or information about P.O.L contact Shana Melius at 877.778.3623 ext 702 or log on to www.preserveourlegacy.org. For more information about Icla da Silva contact Airam da Silva at 888.638.2870 or www.icla.org.
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P.O.L & ICLA DA SILVA FOUNDTION TO HOST BONE MARROW DRIVE FOR SHANNON TAVAREZ at HARLEM CHILDREN'S ZONE ON JULY 31, 2010

Our organization started after the devastating lost of our friends, 3-year old son, Jaden Hilton (photo enclosed in presentation). Jaden was diagnosed with leukemia in April of 2006, in which he needed a bone marrow transplant. Unfortunately for Jaden, his parents and his brother were not a match, nor was anyone in his family. We needed to find Jaden an unrelated donor. In 2006, African-Americans only represented 4% of the registry. Presently, Hispanics represent 9%, African-Americans represent 8%, Asians represent 7%, while Caucasians represent more than 70% of the NMDP/Be The Match Registry. Because we could not find him a match, Jaden lost his battle to leukemia on January 29, 2007. After his death, we made it our life's mission to educate minority about the benefits of stem cells and treatment options they provide through peripheral blood stem cells, bone marrow and umbilical cord blood donation. We have also established legislation in New Jersey. It is New Jersey Bill A2168/S2038- Jaden's Law. Our bill has also been introduced by Assemblyman Keith L. Wright in New York in July 2010. It is New York A11610- Jaden's Law. Our goal is to have NYA11610-Jaden's Law passed in 2011, considering that the sessions ended the day of our bills introduction. We are also in the works with Congressman Charles Rangel to establish throughout the nation, Jaden's Law, as a federal bill. I have enclosed a presentation about Preserve Our Legacy, Inc. We are also launching the P.O.L. Umbilical cord blood program at Harlem Hospital OB/GYN Clinic in September 2010, which is led by Dr. Edgar Mandeville, Director of OB/GYN. This program will increase umbilical cord blood donation within the minority community, ultimately, increase the percentages in the National Registry.

Shannon is only 11 years old and she is fighting for her life. She was recently diagnosed with leukemia, and needs a marrow transplant from a 100% Match in order to survive.

Unfortunately, Shannon and many other patients like her are still searching for their life saving matches. Shannon has the best chance of finding a match within her Dominican and African American heritage.

You can also register online: http://join.marrow.org/Shannon or they can go to BeTheMatch.org and use Promo Code: Shannon
#jadenslaw