Be The Match: For the Love of Lola

  I had the privledge of meeting sweet Lola last year at Starlite Shores and loving on this precious little one! This little girl is amazing and full of life!  She is a super hero who continues to fight CANCER! Won't you pray and read about how you or someone else could save her life or another?

Meet Lola….a sweet 9 year old girl from Grandville who has been fighting leukemia for nearly half of her life.  She was initially diagnosed on valentine’s day, 2011 with B Cell Leukemia.  She completed the standard two years+ of treatment and was declared in complete remission.  Just a few short months after her treatment was completed, her parents were given the devastating news that she had relapsed.  They immediately started treatment for an isolated central nervous system relapse.  This simply means that the leukemia was found in her spinal fluid, but not in her marrow.  She was scheduled to be finished with this high risk treatment, including many difficult spinal taps and brain radiation, for her relapse in November of this year, just before her 10th birthday.

Once again, Lola’s family has been given devastating news.  She has relapsed for the second time, again in her spinal fluid, and a bone marrow transplant may be the only option available to save her life.  Due to a rare genetic marker, Lola’s bone marrow is very hard to match.  The last time her oncologist looked at the registry, there were no suitable matches for Lola.  Her one biological sibling is not a match, and her mother is expecting another baby right now.  Biological siblings have a 25% chance of being a match.  It is unknown at this time if baby is a match to Lola.  In honor of this sweet girl, we are hosting a bone marrow drive.
Lola is so full of life, many people wouldn’t have a clue the battle her body, mind and family have been through the last 4 ½ years.  She is a friendly, happy, outgoing girl who loves Jesus, her family and her friends.

The drive will take place in Grandville, at Harbor Life Church, on July 20, from 4-8pm.  We want as many people aware of this event as possible.  There is a need for bone marrow donors to join the registry.  If by some miracle, someone locally is a match that would be fantastic.  But if not, joining the registry could save another life.  Many people will rely on the generosity of a stranger’s bone marrow to save their life, or the life of their child.  Won’t you be that person?

 If you cannot make it to the event but would still like to join the registry, you can join online by visiting: HERE

They will send you a kit in the mail and it's a simple CHEEK swab! You could save Lola's life or the life of another's. You must be between the ages of 18-44 to donate and in good general health. If you do not fall in these parameters, there is a way a you can help. Each match kit costs $100 for the processing and recording of the donor information. There is no required cost to join the registry, however, these funds must come somewhere. This where fundraising comes in. If you are able to help in a financial way, please click this link to help donate any financial amount ot help with the processing of the kits. At this moment, we currently have 484 people going to the event with 6500 people invited.


How YOU can help:

Be The Match relies on our support to collect contributions from community members to further its mission.  Proceeds will help add potential donors to the Be The Match Registry®. I hope you'll consider making a contribution today.  Together we can help save lives!

What does Be The Match do?
Be The Match connects patients with life-saving marrow donors. We help save lives by:

• Recruiting potential donors: Be The Match manages the largest and most diverse donor registry — more than 10.5 million marrow donors and nearly 185,000 cord blood units.

• Supporting patients: Be The Match provides financial assistance to patients and their families to help offset costs of a marrow transplant.

• Educating doctors: Doctors turn to Be The Match to learn about transplant advances, caring for transplant patients and the importance of timely referral for transplant.

• Advancing science: Be The Match supports research to advance the science of marrow transplant, from improved donor and patient matching to improving post-transplant treatment.