HLA Bone Marrow Registry Drive for Nutley Father of Two
Draws 160 New Potential Donors!

June 2014

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RUTHERFORD, NJ � Sunday�s bone marrow drive to help find a bone marrow stem cell match for 43-year-old Eddie Vanderhoof, a father of two who has been diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) and needs a transplant to cure his disease, added 160 new potential donors to the national Be The Match registry.

The drive to search for a match for Eddie Vanderhoof and other patients like Eddie was held by Eddie�s family with The HLA Registry, a division of Community Blood Services, at the Boiling Spring Masonic Lodge, 169 Park Avenue

�The community really came out to support Eddie,� said Kathy Young, HLA recruitment manager. �It is so heartwarming to see this kind of response. Thanks to everyone who registered Eddie, or someone like him, may now have a second chance at life.�

Eddie grew up in Rutherford before moving to Nutley seven years ago. In March Eddie was diagnosed with AML, a blood cancer that prevents his body from properly producing red blood cells, platelets or white blood cells. A transplant would replace Eddie�s old marrow and start producing healthy blood. Eddie�s best hope is to find a marrow match through the National Marrow Donor Program�s Be The Match registry.

Eddie graduated from Seton Hall University and works as a senior vice president in commercial banking for a large financial institution. In his spare time he likes to play guitar and lives for spending time with his wife, Nichole, and his daughters Olivia, 4 and Madison, 2.

His wife Nichole says Eddie�s hope is �to be able to walk his daughters down the aisle someday and dance at his grandchildren�s weddings. And he is looking forward to going to see his favorite football team, the Steelers, play in Pittsburgh.�

If you weren�t able to attend Sunday�s drive, you can still register by going to www.bethematch.org. Fill out the registration form online and Be The Match will mail you a cheek swab kit. Be sure to use Eddie�s promo code �EDDIV2014� so that the family knows you joined in honor of Eddie. Once on the registry, you are available for Eddie and patients like Eddie who need bone marrow transplants. You will remain on the registry until you are age 61.

Every day, thousands of adults and children like Eddie are diagnosed with leukemia, lymphoma, aplastic anemia, sickle cell anemia and other serious diseases that require stem cell transplants as a cure. Like Eddie, 70 percent of those patients will not find matches within their own families and must turn to the national registry to find a donor match. You can learn more at www.bethematch.org

If you cannot register As a potential donor but wish to help in another way you can help fund the family�s efforts by sending in a contribution to help defer the cost of adding new members to the registry. Every $100 raised helps add a member to the registry. A check can be made out to the Be The Match Foundation and mailed to The HLA Registry, 102 Chestnut Ridge Road, Montvale, NJ 07645.

Community Blood Services has been serving the community for more than 60 years. In addition to housing The HLA Registry, it houses the public New Jersey Cord Blood Bank and provides blood and blood products to patients in more than 18 hospitals in New Jersey and New York State.

ABOUT THE HLA REGISTRY
The HLA Registry (HLA stands for human leukocyte antigens, the genetic information encoded on white blood cells) at Community Blood Services is a member of the National Marrow Donor Program�s (NMDP) Be The Match Registry. The registry is dedicated to finding compatible unrelated donors for lifesaving bone marrow transplants. A member of the NMDP based in Montvale (NJ), it is the largest non-governmental donor center in the U.S. and has registered more than 230,000 potential donors in the NMDP�s data base.