I have been meaning to get a bandana for about two weeks now after receiving three emails about it, but I keep forgetting. This Friday I had completed my grocery shopping and was about to leave when I checked my list one more time.
Bandana. Don’t forget the bandana.
I unclicked Nicky out of his car seat again and told the car guard sheepishly that I was going back in. (He helps us every week).
So why was this bandana so important?
The bandanas are for the Sunflower Fund. This is a fund created to support the bone marrow registry. Bone marrow is needed for those with blood disorders such as leukaemia. The money from the bandanas goes towards the tissue typing (DNA tests) for new donors which costs them R2000 per person.
How to help:
1) Buy a bandana from Pick n Pay / Round table
2) Sign up for the bone marrow registry. They particularly need “people of colour”, as it currently does not completely reflect our population
How to donate bone marrow: Give a blood sample (two test tubes) which is sent to a lab for tissue typing. It only takes minutes and then your details will be placed on SA Bone Marrow Registry.
Apparently donating the bone marrow is not that bad, like donating blood.
Of course the less painful option is just adding that bandana to your grocery cart. I’m sure you’ll be better at remembering it than me…
We also bought the bandanas! It is a great cause!