Get your bandana for National Bandana Day
JOBURG - Show that you are willing to make a difference in a person’s life by supporting National Bandana Day on 12 October.
Bandana Day is a fundraiser held annually by the Sunflower Fund. The organisation’s aim is to secure financial support to increase the number of bone marrow stem cell donors on the South African Bone Marrow Registry.
With the odds of finding a donor being one in 100 000, the organisation is in desperate need of more donors coming on board and being committed to bringing hope to at least one person waiting for a match. All a person has to do to be registered is to give two tubes of their blood.
“We want to educate and recruit well-informed potential bone marrow stem cell donors who are ethnically diverse in an effort to save the lives of those needing a transplant when suffering from life-threatening blood disorders,” said Alana James, CEO of the Sunflower Fund.
Through campaigns such as National Bandana Day, the organisation is able to pay the full R2 000 for the testing of tissue typing (DNA) tests for new stem cell donors to join the registry.
“We are grateful if you are able to make a donation towards the fund, however, if you cannot, that is fine, that is why we are here [to pay for donors to be tested],” said Shelby Zimmerman, donor recruitment specialist for the Sunflower Fund.
The bandanas will be available in eight different colours at Pick n Pay, Round Table, selected Makro stores and the online shop, Zando.
This year the organisation’s slogan is, We heart Bandana Day.
Lauren Corlett, national public relations and marketing specialist for The Sunflower Fund appealed to the public to support the initiative. “We cannot do this without you. To the public of South Africa, I have one question for you – We heart Bandana Day, do you?”
Details: Toll-free 0800 12 10 82; www.sunflowerfund.org.za
