Support the Sunflower Fund

This is a charity I would like to publicise in my own small way.  If you shop at Pick ‘n Pay in South Africa then you may already be aware of this amazing non-profit organisation.  If you don’t know about this charity, keep reading.  Below is a quote from the Sunflower Fund website:

The Sunflower Fund was formed in support of the S.A. BONE MARROW REGISTRY and was inspired by Chris Corlett and Darren Serebro’s heroic struggle against leukaemia. It was formed by a group of parents whose children had contracted leukaemia, and in some cases had lost their battle against it.  Their aim is to rally financial support and increase the number of bone marrow stem cell donors in South Africa . With the odds of finding a donor being 1:100 000, the ideal is to expand the registry to at least 100 000. You can help by joining the S.A. BONE MARROW REGISTRY. All you have to give is two teaspoons of blood!  We need your fast response and long-term commitment.

I was actually at Law School with Darren Serebro.  I had no idea his struggle had such an impact.

If you would like to make a donation, here are the bank account details.  You can donate even if you are outside South Africa so here another opportunity for my wonderful overseas visitors to help out a few people who could really use your help here in South Africa:

ACCOUNT NAME: SUNFLOWER FUND

BANK: ABSA

ACC NUMBER: 4051834719

BRANCH NO: 632005

(SWIFT CODE – FOR INTERNATIONAL DEPOSITS – ABSA ZAJJ)

In reference section, initials "TT" & your surname.

Pay at any Pick & Pay through EasyPay

If you would like to support the Sunflower Fund in other ways, have a look here.

For those interested in reading more about the Sunflower Fund’s mission, here it is:

The Sunflower Fund (Friends of the South African Bone Marrow Registry) is a non-governmental, non-profit organisation based in Cape Town in the Western Cape, South Africa, which operates a national toll-free call center to advise and recruit donors from all over South Africa.

"The Sunflower Fund raises awareness and funds to increase the number of donors on the SA Bone Marrow Registry which will improve the chances of a life saving transplant to patients suffering from serious blood disorders".

Thousands of South Africans are diagnosed annually with life-threatening blood disorders for which a bone marrow transplant from a healthy donor is the only possible life-saving treatment option. 75% of these patients are under the age of 25.

The Sunflower Fund raises funds to support the South African Bone Marrow Registry located at the Medical School of the University of Cape Town, which receives no funding for tissue typing from government. Since February 2003, reorganisation by the National Health Laboratory Service (under whose control all State laboratories now fall) meant that every service performed by the laboratories had to be paid for. The Sunflower Fund carries the responsibility for raising the continual cash flow necessary to meet the costs of all tissue typing of bone marrow donors for the purposes of growing the Registry.

Without our support, the work of the Registry would entirely come to a halt. This would mean that bone marrow transplantation would no longer be offered as a treatment option for the many patients with serious blood disorders such as leukaemia. In addition to fundraising, The Sunflower Fund is actively involved in the recruitment of bone marrow donors.

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