Every two seconds someone needs blood. The Red Cross hopes to avoid both shortages of blood and excesses in the supply by carefully planning blood drives. Very few people donate blood – between four and nine percent, on average, depending on where you live. In Southern California, only three percent of the population donates blood.

It is estimated that 20 percent of all blood recipients are children, many of whom are cancer patients. Other recipients include patients undergoing surgery, patients with hemophilia or other blood disorders, accident victims and premature babies.

Blood cannot be manufactured. It only comes from dedicated individuals who recognize the daily need for blood, and understand that their generosity can improve the lives of others.

Blayke and Garrett have a rare blood disease known as X-linked lymphoproliferative disease, or XLP for short. Earlier, Theresa lost a son to XLP, but Blayke and Garrett are alive today because people cared enough to donate their platelets.

On February 19, 1997, Todd Robinson was critically burned over most of his body when a valve cap exploded and scalding water scorched his body.

If your blood group is AB, many patients are relying upon you to donate your plasma. AB plasma can be transfused to any patient in need. Blood group AB is uncommon, found in only four percent of the population.

Plasma is the fluid part of the blood that transports nutrients to all the cells in the body.

Plasma needs to be transfused to liver transplant patients, some accident victims, and certain people with bleeding disorders and other diseases.

If your blood group is AB, these people are relying upon you to donate your plasma.

If you want to help, simply call:

After a year long search in which 2,000 people were recruited to locate a marrow match for seven year-old leukemia patient Amador Navarro, Christina was finally found through the National Marrow Donor Registry.

Christina Ozaeta helped save Amador Navarro's life when her marrow was transplanted into the boy at Los Angeles Children's Hospital.

Antonio wishes not only to thank Ozaeta, but also those who cared enough to donate their blood and platelets which were used for his treatment.

Each year, 30,000 new patients are diagnosed with leukemia, aplastic anemia or any of 60 other life-threatening diseases that could be cured with a marrow transplant, if a match is found. Only 30 percent of these patients have a family member who can donate. Finding a bone marrow match is a difficult process. Nearly one-half of those in need of a transplant will die before a match is found.

Marrow is found in the cavities of the body’s bones. It resembles blood and contains stem cells, which produce red cells, white cells and other blood components.

Marrow transplantation has become the only real “cure” for many diseases. Approximately 75 percent of all transplants facilitated through the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) are for patients diagnosed with some form of leukemia. Marrow transplants are also a treatment for patients with anemia, lynphomas, and a number of other life threatening diseases.

The odds of finding a match marrow donor depends on the rarity of the patient’s tissue type.

Tissue types are inherited. A patient’s best chance of finding a matched donor is within his or her family, or if that search is unsuccessful, with someone else from the patient’s own ethnic or racial group.

Currently, there are about 150,000 Southern Californias registered in the National Marrow Donor Registry. Won’t you consider joining them?

Make a difference. Find out how you can become part of the National Marrow Donor Program Registry by calling