MOUNT KISCO, N.Y. The eureka moment that set plans in motion for Sundays bone marrow drive at Bet Torah synagogue started like most ideas these days: by way of the Internet.
While searching for viable community service options for her Bat Mitzvah project, Somers Middle School seventh-grader Morgan Vogel stumbled upon Dosomething.org, a site that lists advocacy initiatives and organizations for teens to join, where she discovered Be the Match.
The mission of Be the Match, run by the National Marrow Donor Program, is to compile a registry of bone marrow donors to find transplant matches for people suffering from conditions like severe aplastic anemia, sickle cell disease and various leukemias and lymphomas.
Dr. Ruth Levy, who practices internal medicine at Westchester Medical Group, was at the drive on Sunday. She said she saw the flier at Starbucks and decided to donate. I have an interest in seeing people get better, Levy said.
Vogel explained that potential donors fill out a brief health questionnaire to determine whether they would be eligible to donate. A cheek swab is taken, and a representative from the registry collects the samples.
According to National Marrow Donor Program informational materials, donors who are tissue type matches are notified by the registry, and if they agree to donate, attend four to six weeks of pre-procedure appointments. Eventually they will undergo one of two procedures: peripheral blood stem cell harvesting, which is non-surgical, or a marrow extraction procedure, which requires surgery.
Charity projects are common for Bat and Bar Mitzvahs.
My Bat Mitzvah was two weeks ago, said Vogels friend and Bet Torah Hebrew School classmate Arielle Gordon, a seventh-grader at John Jay Middle School. Gordon said her project was a Swimathon for starvation at the Saw Mill Club, where Vogel and Gordon are on the swim team.
Vogels mother Adrienne said she and her daughter were very pleased at the outcome of their local advertising efforts. Vogel emailed magazines, newspapers and radio stations, and hung posters at numerous Mount Kisco businesses. She even handed out fliers at the train station the day before.
Those interested in finding out if they might be a match can go to www.bethematch.org. Donors must be between 18 and 60 and meet the registrys health guidelines.
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