Make-A-Wish® and Be The Match® Partner to Grant
15-Year-Old’s Wish to Increase Bone Marrow Donations
In July 2017, 15-year-old Jack from Mill Valley had just been given permission to go outside. He had been kept indoors for nine months because of his blood disorder. Knowing that a bone marrow donation saved his life, when Make-A-Wish offered to grant him a wish, he chose to help others like him. Jack’s wish was to be a bone marrow donation spokesperson, and to record a PSA encouraging people to sign up through Be The Match (especially people of Asian heritage).
Jack’s vision for the PSA is to help raise money and awareness for bone marrow transplants. Jack wrote the script for his PSA and Make-A-Wish teamed up again with Dana Nachman, the filmmaker who created Batkid Begins, to create it. The PSA features some of the activities Jack is able to do again, thanks to his transplant.
We invited you to join Jack’s friends and family and the local Make-A-Wish community in celebrating the release of Jack’s PSA. The launch party will be the first public viewing of the PSA and executives of Make-A-Wish and Be The Match will speak.
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About Make-A-Wish® Greater Bay Area
Together, we grant life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses. In 2018 Make-A-Wish Greater Bay Area celebrates 34 years fulfilling magical wishes. During its first year of operation, in 1984, the chapter granted 27 wishes. Now one of the largest chapters nationwide, the Greater Bay Area grants 400 wishes per year and has granted over 8,000 wishes to date. The chapter covers 17 Northern California counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, Napa, Marin, Monterey, San Benito, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, Siskiyou, Solano and Sonoma. The vision of Make-A-Wish is to grant a wish to every eligible child in its territory. Anyone can suggest a child for a wish. For more information or to refer a child for a wish, please call 415-982-9474 or visit www.SF.Wish.org
About Be The Match
For people with life-threatening blood cancers—like leukemia and lymphoma—or other diseases, a cure exists. Be The Match® connects patients with their donor match for a life-saving marrow or umbilical cord blood transplant. People can contribute to the cure as a member of the Be The Match Registry®, a financial contributor or a volunteer. Be The Match provides patients and their families one-on-one support, education and guidance before, during and after the transplant.
Be The Match is operated by the National Marrow Donor Program® (NMDP), a nonprofit organization that matches patients with donors, educates health care professionals and conducts research through its research program, CIBMTR® (Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research®), so more lives can be saved. To learn more about the cure, visit BeTheMatch.org or call 1 (800) MARROW-2.
