Mounds View Public Schools

Mounds View High School students raise $650 for marrow transplant patients

May 29, 2009 -- While school fundraisers are commonplace for a band trip or sports uniforms, Mounds View High School students spent time in spring 2009 raising money for something a little more altruistic - Be The Match FoundationSM. The inaugural Dollars for Donors campaign raised $650 to help patients receive the marrow or umbilical cord blood transplant they need.

The student organizers educated their classmates about the thousands of patients with leukemia and other life-threatening diseases waiting for a marrow donor and a transplant. In addition to raising money, they encouraged students to join the Be The Match RegistrySM when they turn 18. Seventy percent of patients who need a transplant do not have a donor in their family. They rely on Be The Match Registry, the largest and most diverse registry of unrelated marrow donors and umbilical cord blood units in the world, for their transplant.

Mounds View High School has a special relationship with Be The Match Foundation and its partner, the National Marrow Donor Program®, which operates the registry. One of its own, 16-year-old Robert Lorentz, needed a life-saving transplant at the age of 3. The family found a donor on the registry. In another connection, the parents of all three student organizers are volunteer couriers for the National Marrow Donor Program and help transport donated marrow to anxiously waiting patients across the globe.

“The hard work, creativity, and generosity of the students and staff at Mounds View High School is inspiring. Their model will help us work with other schools to raise funds for the patients and donors we serve,” said foundation President Christine Fleming.

Photo: Mounds View High School students present Be The Match Foundation with a fundraising check. From left to right are: junior Nicole Lorentz, junior Julia Valen, foundation President Christine Fleming, parent organizer Karen Lorentz, and senior Louisa Savereide.