LDLF

 

LUIS DANVERS LEUKEMIA FUND

If you could save a life…  would you?

The Luis Danvers Leukemia Fund (LDLF) is a 501c-3 not for profit organization dedicated to the fight against leukemia and other blood diseases.  The LDLF was organized to promote, educate, and spread awareness about  leukemia, Luis’s fight against leukemia, information about the struggles of patients and their families, and   becoming a bone marrow donor, donating cord blood, and blood donations.  Luis Danvers is a 6 year old boy that was diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia or ALL in September 2009.  He has undergone 3 1/2 years of chemotherapy treatments in hopes that he will be completely cured of this disease. We hope that the chemotherapy works because as of today, there is no bone marrow match for Luis in the registry.

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the goal

The goal of the LDLF is to save as many lives as we can from this dreadful disease.  In order for us to save lives, we have to make the public aware of the epidemic that blood cancers have caused.  We are going to do regular events, speaking engagements, documentaries, public service announcements, media etc. to promote bone marrow donation, cord blood, and blood donation.  The LDLF hopes that by doing this we will bring leukemia and other blood cancers to the forefront and people will no longer look at having the illness as a death sentence.  

bone marrow donation

The LDLF is committed to educating the public about the importance of bone marrow donation.  This year approximately 80,000 people will be diagnosed with leukemia of which 10,000 will need a bone marrow transplant to save their life.  The registry run by the NMDP has millions of people already registered and yet only 4 out of 10 patients find a match.  This number is even lower for minorities at 1 out of 10 so we at the LDLF has decided to do something about it.  We have been on a nationwide campaign called “Give Thanks, Give Hope” Campaign to Raise Awareness.  In 2011, the LDLF has done over 25 bone marrow drives in collaboration with DKMS Americas where we have registered over 1500 people in 5 states.  In 2012, we are launching a new initiative called “20012 swabs for 2012” in which we are determined to add 20,012 new potential bone marrow donors to the registry.  This organization will hold events in order to accomplish our new initiative.    

cord blood

This organization is launching a new initiative called “Cord Blood: Why waste it!” to address the fact the we throw away 1000’s of units of cord blood every year.  These units can be potential lifesavers because they can potentially match 1000’s of patients that are in need of a bone marrow transplant.  We are going to travel the country with this message in hopes that more will be done to store the cord blood units that we know will save lives.  I just hate to think that one of those units could match a patient that does not have a bone marrow donor.

blood donations

Every day 1000’s of people need blood in order to survive.  In the case of patients with leukemia and other blood disorders the need for blood is even greater.  These patients undergo regular blood transfusions because of low hemoglobin, low white cell, or low platelet counts.  In order for these patients to survive there is a need for regular blood transfusions.  That is why donating blood is extremely important and this organization is committed to spreading the word about this.  We will have regular blood drives in order to help keep a sufficient amount of blood available to the hospitals for these patients