[1]LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)–Southern Baptist Theological Seminary is partnering with the “Be the Match” organization in hosting a stem cell donor drive Feb. 11 for Carl Stam, director of the seminary’s Institute for Christian Worship, who has been battling an aggressive form of Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma since spring 2007.
“We are blessed — and so hopeful for a full recovery,” said Stam, associate professor of church music and worship at the seminary. “But it has come down to this: We must find a stem cell match for a transplant. This is the best chance to eliminate the lymphoma from my body.”
The goal of the drive is to help find Stam a stem cell match and make participants aware of the Be the Match organization, which helps patients find a matching donor and assists in funding transplant procedures.
At the seminary campus in Louisville, Ky., Be the Match was scheduled to register participants in the Honeycutt Campus Center from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. today. Participation requires filling out basic paperwork and collecting a swab of cheek cells.
Individuals unable to attend the Feb. 11 stem cell donor drive can join the registry online at http://join.marrow.org/CARLSTAM2010. Anyone between the ages of 18 and 60 and in overall good health can become a registry member by ordering a kit, taking a swab of his/her cheek and mailing the kit back in. Individuals identified as a potential match for someone are then contacted for further review in potentially making a peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) or marrow donation.
“The support that has come our way from family, friends and strangers has been a terrific display of God’s love and care for us,” Stam said. “Thousands of cancer patients, including me, are depending on the willingness of interested friends to register with the Be the Match program.”
[2]To watch a short video from Stam, visit www.sbts.edu/carl-stam.
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Reported by the communications office of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary