Ayelet needs your help.
As a parent of a young child, I find myself experiencing life in a different way now than I did before I had my daughter. I tear up at those Hallmark commercials about sending cards to your mom. Sometimes I cry when my daughter hugs me. And I even found myself getting emotional watching some show where the mommy dog had to give up her puppies. So yes, in case you were curious: being a mother makes you a little bit more emotional.
And even though I’m more emotional these days, I can still separate simple sadness from tragic sadness. But over the weekend, I did hear some tragic news, and I wanted to share it with you in the hopes that as a larger community, we can do something to help.
My friend Hindy Poupko and her husband Seth Galena have a beautiful baby girl named Ayelet who just turned 1. I’ve known Hindy for many years now. She’s a powerhouse–one of those women who gets things done, from political campaigns to fashion shows. I’ve always admired her drive and her ability to speak her mind with honesty. Hindy and I got married around the same time (Seth proposed to Hindy on TV!), and had kids around the same time. So it’s even more heartbreaking to me to have heard the news: lovable Ayelet has a bone marrow failure disease, and desperately needs a bone marrow transplant.
I cannot imagine what Hindy and Seth are feeling right now. I get the chills and start to tear up every time I think about it (remember that as a mom, I’m more emotional!) All I know is that I want to help. And I want you to help too. Because if it were your child–you’d move mountains to heal her. So let’s do it. Here’s how:
1. There’s an incredible organization called the Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation that registers people’s bone marrow type. You don’t need to promise that you’d donate in order to register. Registering is simply swabbing the inside of your cheek with a q-tip. Easy. Head here to register.
2. If you think you’re already in the registry, check double check here: https://www.giftoflife.org/Public/quickcheck/default.aspx
3. Currently, Gift of Life does not have the funds to process all of the new registrants (each test costs $54) so consider donating to Gift of Life through Ayelet’s dedicated donors circle at: http://www.giftoflife.org/dc/Ayelet-Galena/blog.aspx.
4. If you banked your child’s umbilical cord blood and would consider donating it in the event that it is match, please be in touch with me (amy@kveller.com).
5. Send this blog posting to everyone you know.
If you’re nervous about the idea of actually donating bone marrow, you can get more details here. I happen to have two friends who have been matches and have donated bone marrow. They both considered it a life-changing experience for themselves (and clearly for the recipients as well). Based on their experiences, I kind of hope that someday I could be a match to be able to do this for someone else. What a mitzvah. It doesn’t get any better than that.
Please help, however you can. Hindy, Seth, Ayelet, and I all appreciate anything you can do.
