Marrow Donor Program  
Learn more about it...
In 1997, Be The Match Foundation (formerly The Marrow Foundation) invited the U.S. Postal Service to collaborate with them in an effort to build awareness about the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) — especially among African Americans and other ethnically diverse employees — and help increase the number and diversity of volunteer potential donors on the Be The Match Registry, which is operated by NMDP. Thus, the Postal Service’s Delivering the Gift of Life Campaign was launched.

At any given time, the Be The Match Registry is being searched for thousands of men, women, and children looking for an unrelated potential donor. Since 1987, the NMDP has facilitated thousands of marrow and blood cell transplants — from a registry containing over 7 million names — yet less than 10 percent of those transplants helped African-American or other minority patients. To date, the USPS’ Delivering the Gift of Life Campaign, through the generosity of postal employees and their family members, has added almost 26,000 ethnically diverse potential donors to the Be The Match Registry and over 23,000 Caucasian potential donors for a total of almost 49,000 ! At least 80 of these donors gave the ultimate gift — a second chance at life to a patient in need — by being a marrow or blood cell match through the campaign. In Sepember 2009, the Postal Service was the recipient of the first “Rod Carew Award for Leadership” and recognized as having saved more lives through marrow donation than any other business organization in the nation and for our efforts to stem leukemia and other life-threatening diseases.

Our volunteerism efforts through the Delivering the Gift of Life Campaign gives postal employees/their spouses/dependents, ages 18+, a unique opportunity to share in a true miracle. What greater gift can one human give to another than the Gift of Life? If you are a USPS employee, click here to find the coordinator in your district. If your district is not listed, you can send an e-mail to marrowcampaign@usps.gov.

For more information on Be The Match Registry or Be The Match Foundation, go to bethematch.org.