The DKMS mission is to save lives by recruiting bone marrow donors for leukemia patients. More than 22,000 DKMS donors have helped save lives by donating their bone marrow. DKMS is the largest bone marrow donor center in the world with nearly 2.5 million registered donors. However, there are still thousands of patients who cannot find their donor match. DKMS will continue to recruit bone marrow donors until every patient gets a second chance at life.
DKMS Americas is a donor center which is a member organization of the Be The Match Registry® (operated by the NMDP). DKMS works to expand bone marrow donor registries by recruiting bone marrow donors from every race and ethnicity, in order to provide leukemia and other blood cancer patients in need of a bone marrow transplant with the best available donor match.
DKMS also coordinates the transport of bone marrow and blood stem cells from Germany to the U.S. for patients here in need of bone marrow transplants. Through our efforts, DKMS Americas has registered over 160,000 donors, and more than 270 DKMS (Americas) donors have gone on to donate their bone marrow. There is still more work to do as only 4 out of 10 people will receive a life-saving transplant. Therefore, we need your help.
The Facts of Death
Fact: Every FIVE minutes, someone is diagnosed with blood cancer.
Fact: Every TEN minutes, blood cancer takes a life.
Fact: Leukemia is the most common disease children in the U.S. die from
Fact: Only 3 out of 10 patients will receive the transplant that could save their lives
The Facts of Life
More than 14.5 million people are registered worldwide, but not all patients will find their life-saver.
Maybe YOU can be the one person to change this. Here’s how you can help:
· Register as a bone marrow donor with DKMS
· Organize a bone marrow donor drive in your community, at your office or school
· Fundraise
· Make a monetary contribution
· Spread the word – Refer family members and friends to register with DKMS
Learn about other ways you can help.
About Katharina Harf, The Spirit of DKMS
At the young age of fourteen, Katharina Harf lost her mother to acute leukemia. Katharina wanted to help make a difference in the lives of other families, so they would not have to go through the heartache and pain she experienced after losing her mother.
In 1991, Katharina’s father, Peter Harf, founded DKMS - in Germany - to help save the lives of leukemia and other blood cancer patients by recruiting life-saving bone marrow donors. In just five years, DKMS became the world’s largest bone marrow donor center, and today still holds this distinction with a growing database of over 1.8 million registered donors. Since its inception, DKMS has matched more than 16,000 donors with patients.
In 2004, Katharina and her father expanded the DKMS mission to the United States, to diversify the donor. Currently, only 3 out of 10 patients will receive the transplant that could save their lives. But until every child and adult survives blood cancer, our work is not done.
DKMS wants to continue to give hope to other patients and their families and we need YOUR help. Together we can provide hope. Together we can provide a cure. Together we can make a difference.
DKMS accepts stock donations!!!