Photo courtesy of Student Nurses Association At the Bone Marrow Drive on May 5, the Grand Marais cohort of the Student Nursing Association from Hibbing raised over $700 for donation to the swab processing, and added over 20 people to the registry. Local volunteers were delighted with the success of the drive. (L-R) Ann Dawson, Amy James, Donna Lunke, and Robert McGregor. (Not pictured, Sherry Lashinski).
At the Bone Marrow Drive on May 5, the Grand Marais cohort of the Student Nursing Association from Hibbing raised over $700 for donation to the swab processing, and added over 20 people to the registry, which according to Kevin Meyer, director of the Bone Marrow Registry in Lansing Michigan, was an awesome accomplishment for such a small community. TheStudent Nursing Association of Hibbing will be doing more drives in the future at other locations.
The Student Nursing Association also raised funds in Grand Marais for the processing of the swabs, which will determine if donors match someone who is in need of bone marrow. The swabs are obtained by using a long Q-tip that is swabbed on the inner upper and lower cheek on each side of the mouth. Theswab sample identifies your DNA markers that can be used to identify a bone marrow match.
The Student Nursing Association is comprised of Hibbing Community College students from Grand Marais, Grand Rapids, International Falls, and Hibbing. Local association members are RN students who are enrolled in Cook County Higher Education’s cohort of Hibbing Community College’s distance degree program, who will be graduating in May. Three of the RN students, Ann Dawson, Robert McGregor, and Amy James, plus two local community members, Donna Lunke and Sherry Lashinski, contributed their time and energy to the event. Ann Dawson organized the drive.
If you are interested in finding out more about bone marrow matches, you can go to the Bone Marrow Registry web page at www.marrow.org, or you can call 1-800-627-7692.
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