Marrow Drives Scheduled for 14-Year-Old Kona Girl

Destiny Alvarez Torres. Courtesy photo.

Hawaii Bone Marrow Donor Registry will hold bone marrow donor drives at several locations this weekend from Saturday through Monday, July 9 through 11 in Kona and Hilo.

A 14 year-old Kailua-Kona girl, Destiny Alaverez Torres, a graduate of Kealakehe Intermediate School, is in desperate need for a bone marrow transplant and needs your help.

Destiny recently had a liver transplant and now needs to find a matching bone marrow donor to save her life.

Being of mixed ethnicity makes it hard for her to find a matching donor; she is Hawaiian, Filipino, Japanese and Puerto Rican.

Hawaii Bone Marrow Donor Registry is an affiliate of the national Be The Match Registry. So far, only 4% of the national Be The Match Registry is of mixed race.

SCREENING SCHEDULE

Saturday, July 9 • 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Subway Restaurant at Kona Commons
74-5450 Makala Blvd., Kailua-Kona

Sunday, July 10 • 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
KTA Superstore Puainako
50 E. Puainako St., Hilo

Monday, July 11 • 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Suisan Co. Ltd.
93 Lihiwai St., Hilo

Those interested in registering must be between the ages of 18 and 44, meet health guidelines and be willing to donate to anyone in need of a bone marrow transplant.

Registering is quick and painless. It takes about 10 minutes to fill out a form, answer a few health questions and complete the mouth cheek swab process. No blood is collected at bone marrow donor drives.

The need for more donors is greater than ever. There is also a need to increase the diversity of the registry in order to give patients the best chance. By registering today, you’ll give that someone and anyone else, a second chance at life.

The Hawaii Bone Marrow Donor Registry’s mission is to “facilitate successful bone marrow and blood stem cell transplants through the recruitment and registration of volunteers to serve as donors for our multi-ethnic population.”

To learn more about the National Marrow Donor Program, go online.