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Shannon Tavarez

Shannon Tavarez, Broadway’s Young Nala in “The Lion King”, has been living with AML Leukemia since being diagnosed in April. Shannon has been fighting her cancer with daily chemo treatments and is desperately in need of a life-saving bone marrow donor drive.

The challenge of finding a donor for the bubbly pre-teen is the fact that she is Dominican and African-American. Presently the NMDP (National Marrow Donor Program) reports only 25% of the current U.S. national registry, consists of Ethnic Minorities. In order to have a successful transplant, the marrow of donors and recipients must match closely, which in most cases is a family member or someone of their own race and ethnicity. Ethnic minorities have a 30-40% chance of finding a match from existing NMDP registry, while Caucasians have an 80% chance.

YOU could be the match for Shannon. All it takes is a 2 minute swab in both cheeks to find out. All members of the community, ages 18 to 60, are encouraged to participate in this confidential testing.

When: August 7, 2010 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

The Harlem School of the Arts
645 Saint Nicholas Avenue near 141st Street
FREE
212.926.4100

www.harlemschoolofthearts.org

A, C, B, D or 1 train to 145th Street
M3 bus to 141th Street