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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