DOING GOOD, SAVING LIVES

The Civilitas Foundation
Saturday, 08 May 2010 09:07

Spotlight / Events

The Civilitas Foundation, in collaboration with the Armenian Bone
Marrow Donor Registry, hosted ‘Be a Donor, Save a Life! on May 7.’
The turnout was impressive and inspired the participants to continue to
repeat the drive on Friday May 14, from 5 to 7 pm, again at Civilitas,
in central Yerevan.

The reason for Civilitas’ participation is not only humanitarian,
it also has to do with the story of Civilitas intern, Olivia
Katrandjian, whose mother is suffering from lymphoma, an aggressive and
unpredictable form of blood cancer. At this point, her only chance for
a cure is a bone marrow transplant. In order to perform this procedure,
the doctors need a blood donor who is a genetic match, but currently,
there are no registered donors who qualify.

The best chance of finding a match is another Armenian, and so Olivia
has been working with the Armenian Bone Marrow Donor Registry to
increase the number of Armenian registrants in the system.

Joining the registry is simple – it requires only a cotton swab to
collect some cheek cells from the inside of your mouth. The Armenian
Bone Marrow Donor Registry has already saved the lives of 8 people.

"But 1300 people are still in need of a match and it’s possible that
that match is you," said Olivia. "Signing up only takes five minutes
and it could mean saving the life of someone like my mother."

"This next drive on May 14 is on Olivia’s birthday. Olivia’s enthusiasm
and positive outlook in the face of this huge challenge will make
everyone believe that we can indeed rely on each other, that our
dignity and humanity really does depend on the other person’s act of
kindness," said Salpi Ghazarian, Director of Civilitas, who herself
became a donor. "Random events and coincidences often determine
our lives. This illness randomly afflicted Olivia’s mother Irene,
and little Charlotte (see ). Correspondingly, a random
donor may be the one to save their lives, so come by for 5 minutes
and be registered," said Mrs. Ghazarian.

Vartan Oskanian, President of the Civilitas Board, also became a
donor. "This is one of those causes that is only good," he said. "This
is something about which we can all agree, all work together, all
contribute. It’s really for the common good, and it requires common
effort," he said.