“Ignite for Life” will host a bone marrow registration drive event at the Rock Island Arsenal in Heritage Hall (Building 60) on February 28th from 1-4 p.m. Volunteers registering during the drive can do so by filling out the form below. Investigate the scene and wipe your cheeks for DNA. This process takes approximately 10-15 minutes. This event is open only to Department of Defense personnel and their families.
Ignite for Life is a team of four Island employees from various units participating in the “Journey to Leadership” program. Developed and managed by the Army Sustainment Command, this program is designed to provide additional opportunities for leadership development available to both civilians and military personnel.
The team will include several volunteers who have made or received donations and will be available to answer all questions. One of those volunteers is Lori McFate, a Department of Defense civilian employee at Joint Munitions Command. As a cancer survivor and bone marrow transplant recipient, she knows the process firsthand and has benefited from the person’s choice to enroll her.
McFate was diagnosed with T-cell lymphoma (a blood cancer) in 2001 and spent five years exhausting all options for chemotherapy and radiation therapy. During this time, she was referred to the University of Nebraska at Omaha (Leet Transplant Hospital), where it was determined that she needed a bone marrow transplant. There were no matches in either national or international databanks. Lori continued her chemotherapy and radiation treatments.
All over the world, individuals have made the life-changing decision to submit their DNA swabs to an international database of bone marrow donors. Little did he know, he was about to change the life of a stranger. Ms. McFate received a life-changing message that someone had given her a second chance at life…the donor was a perfect match, 10 out of 10 antigens. In June 2006, Lori received an allogeneic bone marrow transplant from a donor.
For this drive event, the JTL team is collaborating with CW Bill Young Department of Defense (DoD) Bone Marrow Donor Recruitment and Research Program (Salute to Life). Only Department of Defense employees, military personnel, and their families are eligible to participate in this program. Click here to learn more about the program. https://www.salutetolife.org/. Here you can find out more about the process if you are identified as a match and contacted to become a donor.