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From the Pacific to the AtlanticFive Points of Life Bike Ride Heralds Life-Saving DonationUnexpected turns in life created the passion for Five Points of Life cyclists to ride their bicycles more than 4,000 miles with the sole purpose of encouraging people to share life. The message is simple: Donate one or more of the five points of life - whole blood, platelets, marrow, cord blood, and organ and tissue. The fifth biennial Five Points of Life ride begins August 24 in Seattle, Wash., at Chiron Corporation, winds through 12 states and concludes on October 15 at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. During the 53-day Five Points of Life trek, people along the route will have the opportunity to donate blood and join the NMDP Registry of volunteer marrow and blood cell donors. More than 50 events are scheduled to educate people about platelet donation through apheresis, the need for banking umbilical cord blood, and the importance of organ and tissue donation. Journey Begins with First-time Meeting of Donor and RecipientThe 12 cyclists will begin the cross-country journey after 10-year-old Torey Nelms meets his real-life hero, Dianna Norris. Norris, who is from Tacoma, Wash., and an employee of the United States Postal Service (USPS), willingly donated her marrow after joining the NMDP Donor Registry through the USPS Delivering the Gift of Life recruitment campaign of the National Marrow Donor Program® (NMDP) and its partner, The Marrow Foundation®. The USPS Delivering the Gift of Life campaign encourages people from all racial and ethnic groups to join the Registry.Diseases that are treatable by marrow or blood cell transplant affect families from all racial and ethnic backgrounds, but Black and African American patients face the greatest challenge in finding matching marrow or blood cell donors. Norris and Nelms are African American. When the riders reach Boise, Idaho, they will be greeted by the mayor, David Bieter, who worked around his election schedule to donate his marrow to a patient who urgently needed his healthy cells. From Boise, the riders will continue their journey across the nation, ending in Florida. Riders with a Personal ConnectionEach of the 12 riders has a personal connection to life-saving transplants.For rider profiles, a calendar of events, highlights or other information on the Five Points of Life partners or sponsors, visit www.aabb.org or www.lifesouth.org or call toll free: (877) 5POINTS. Creating the JourneyCorporate sponsors make the Five Points of Life ride possible: Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, Johnson & Johnson, Roche Diagnostics, the Fenwal Division of Baxter Healthcare, Gambro BCT, Chiron Blood Testing, Saturn/UAW, State Farm Insurance, Alpha One Foundation and the Florida Coalition on Donation.Another instrumental piece is the planning of the route and events by LifeSouth Community Blood Centers and the local member organizations of American Association of Blood Banks, Coalition on Donation, National Marrow Donor Program and its partner, The Marrow Foundation. |
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