National Marrow Donor Day Set For February 9

DANBURY — On Friday, February 9, from 1 to 5 pm, Saturn of Danbury will host National Donor Day. Visitors may join the National Marrow Donor Program’s (NMDP) Registry of potential marrow and blood stem cell donors at Saturn of Danbury, 102C Federal Road.

Anyone between the ages of 18 and 60 and in good general health can join. All it takes is a simple blood test. All Donor Day visitors will be encouraged to fill out an organ and tissue donor card and tell their loved ones of their decision to become an organ and tissue donor.

“We believe National Donor Day is the largest annual one-day blood, organ, and tissue donation drive in America,” said Jill Lajdziak, Saturn vice president of sales, service and marketing. “Thanks to the success of the first three National Donor Days, our 437 Saturn retailers and our non-profit health partners have collected over 25,000 units of blood, and added over 4,000 potential donors to the National Marrow Donor Program’s Registry.”

The need for donation is great. Approximately 10,000 life-saving transfusions take place daily, yet fewer than five percent of Americans donate blood. Winter months, including February, are often times of critical blood shortages. Each year more than 30,000 people are diagnosed with diseases that can be cured by a marrow or blood stem cell transplant; 70 percent of them will need an unrelated donor for their transplant. Nearly 75,000 patients are currently awaiting organ donation for a life-saving transplant, and sadly, an average of 16 die every day because a suitable donor is not found in time.