Bone Marrow Drive for Sister

[dzandiloo]

Just in case you all hadn't heard...the turnout for this drive was phenomenal, and the chapter is trying to help cover the cost of the testing.... It makes you think about how lucky we are to be part of this sisterhood!

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Marrow drive draws 325
Delta Zeta sorority, American Red Cross unite to help student
By Jon Turner
News Editor
Published: Wednesday, February 23, 2005

More than 300 students gave blood Tuesday for marrow tests, surprising members of the American Red Cross and Delta Zeta sorority who arranged and operated the drive on behalf of third-year psychology student Caroline Terry, who suffers from leukemia.

Terry needs a marrow transplant to finally rid herself of the leukemia driven into remission by heavy chemotherapy, but first she must find a donor, a daunting task when the chances of an individual match are about one in 20,000.

Organizers had only planned for about 100 tests Tuesday, and they quickly found themselves swamped with hundreds of volunteers. Students lounged about the third floor of the Russell House for as long as two hours, killing time during the peak of participation.

The drive received so many volunteers that it ran out of supplies, forcing it to close an hour and a half early.

"It was hard to turn people away," said Christi Woodham, a fourth-year cardiovascular technology student and DZ member.

Woodham said the turnout had been encouraging and that DZ would probably organize another drive mid-March.

"It was good," she said. "We're extremely tired and worn out, but we're happy to have had so many people."

Third-year English student and DZ member Amber Cheek said she had never anticipated such support from the USC student body.

"We didn't have enough brochures," she said. "We had to go back to the American Red Cross to get more brochures. And we ran out of supplies. We had to get more supplies. Juice. We ran out of juice. We ran out of everything, and we were just constantly running around, trying to piece things together."

Cheek said Cocky had played a major role in the drive's success, literally pulling students in off the street for testing.

"People don't care as long as Cocky is there," she said. "He helped us a lot, and then Dr. Sorensen actually showed up, and people wondered, 'What's going on, why is Dr. Sorensen at that table?'"

The drive eventually tested 325 people and accepted about $200 in donations. The testing was expensive, though. The American Red Cross pays for some, but it enforces a strict one-to-one minority-to-Caucasian ratio. Only about 100 of the 325 people tested were minorities, leaving DZ with bills of $65 for each of the 125 disproportionate tests. Any donations they can collect will go toward paying those costs.

Third-year business student Katie Brennan was among the students who volunteered to be tested Tuesday.

"I give blood a lot, and I know it's a one-in-a-million chance, but wouldn't it be cool if I were a match?" she asked.

Brennan said she had never met Terry, but that she was happy to help out any way she could.

Terry, a third-year psychology student, finished a light dose of chemotherapy Wednesday as preparation for a possible marrow transplant. She said people had been calling her all day.

"It makes me happy," she said.