Donor's story influences Seattle ordinance

When Sergeant Randy Yamanaka of the Seattle Police Department was asked to donate marrow to a 1-year-old boy with leukemia, he was eager to help. He was surprised when the city’s ethics commission refused his request for paid leave to donate.

Randy wrote to then-governor Gary Locke. Locke called to offer support and the story leaked to the media.

The result: The Seattle City Council passed an ordinance allowing city employees paid time off for organ and marrow donation – and Randy donated his marrow, with pay.

Laws continue to pass in support of donors
With a new law passed in November 2009, Rhode Island joined 15 states (PDF) and the District of Columbia in allowing tax deductions to reimburse for lost wages related to donation. Other states have laws, like Seattle’s, requiring employers to provide paid donor leave (PDF).

Take action
You can help educate your state and federal elected officials to support laws like these that help improve patients’ access to transplant by making it easier for donors to donate.

Join our grassroots advocacy network >

Registry members: 8 million strong!

Kudos to you! In 2009, the Be The Match Registry^® grew to more than 8 million members and facilitated more than 4,800 transplants.

See slideshow to learn more >

Committed to save a life

Guy Miller, of Mobile, Ala., joined the Be The Match Registry^® out of friendship. And he was a match - not for his friend who needed a transplant, but for a stranger.
 
When Guy was called to donate, he took his commitment to the registry just as seriously as he took his friendship. He donated marrow in 2004.

Five years later, he met Mark Schuh, the young man whose life he’d saved.

Guy’s and Mark’s story – see video >

Your miles could help a patient

When you fly Delta Air Lines, you can donate your miles to Be The Match Foundation^SM.

Be The Match Foundation will use those miles to fly patients and their caregivers to transplant centers, providing tremendous relief to families burdened by treatment costs.

Donate your miles >

Donor Center #:
Donor Record #:

12309 JAN 2010 

What's YOUR commitment? 

What was your promise when you joined the registry? The start of a new year is a great time to refresh your commitment.

Take the pledge >

Tweet to nominate @BeTheMatch

The Shorty Awards recognize the best voices on Twitter. To help spread the word about our work, just tweet “I nominate @BeTheMatch for a Shorty Award in #nonprofit because" and  fill in YOUR reason! For more info about the Shorty Awards, see http://bit.ly/shorty.

Your opinion matters

We’re launching a Be The Match^® online store this spring to give people like you another way to show your support and spread the word.

Help us choose which Be The Match merchandise to offer - Take our quick poll now! 

More donors, more transplants 

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