DKMS Supports Socially Responsible Bone-Marrow Donor Campaign

The world's largest bone-marrow-donor center, DKMS, alongside its founding corporate sponsor Coty, has enlisted the support of actress Leighton Meester and designer Vera Wang to promote the campaign "Share the Love", which invites the public to register as bone-marrow donors to potentially save lives. They can register at GetSwabbed.org.

Since yesterday, consumers have been receiving a free "Share the Love" T-shirt, designed exclusively for DKMS by Vera Wang, with a $78 purchase from the Vera Wang Lovestruck fragrance collection.

"I'm excited to be working with DKMS and Leighton Meester on such an important cause," said Wang. "I designed the 'Share the Love' T-shirt as a reminder that we each have the power to fight blood cancer and save someone's life. It's easy to become a bone-marrow donor: Get swabbed!"

Recently, Leighton teamed up with 19-year-old blood cancer survivor Kerri Mullen, who inspired this campaign, to create a PSA for DKMS urging people to join the fight against blood cancer. Kerri, a native of Morristown, N.J., was diagnosed with leukemia in March 2008 at 16 years old. She is one of the 30,000 recipients of a bone-marrow transplant facilitated by DKMS and Coty - she received her transplant in July 2008, and now her cancer is in remission. With a second chance at life, Kerri has since graduated from high school and is currently attending college where she is majoring in liberal arts.

Not everyone meets the same happy end, though. Fewer than 30 percent of patients find a match in their own family; the remaining more than 70 percent must search for an unrelated donor. With a lack of donors in the registry, six out of 10 patients will not receive a lifesaving transplant.

"We're honored that Leighton Meester and Vera Wang, both incredible supporters of our fight against blood cancer, are part of this amazing campaign," said Katharina Harf, founder and spokeswoman of DKMS Americas. "If everyone registers as a donor, we can save countless lives."

In order to register to become a bone-marrow donor it's necessary to be between 18 and 55 and in good general health. Registering with DKMS means being listed on the national registry and being found as a donor match for any patient in need of a bone-marrow transplant.

Image credit: DKMS