Mission Mission

Are you South Asian? Our friend Amit Gupta might need some of your sweet brown bone marrow. Are you not South Asian? Chances are someone else needs your bone marrow too.

To put the odds into perspective, if you need a bone marrow transplant and you’re caucasian, the chances are 8 in 10 that you’ll find a suitable match. If you’re Indian, it’s more like 1 in 20,000. Help Amit and others smash those odds by stopping by Project One tonight and submitting a sample. All you have to do is fill out some paperwork and swab the inside of your cheeks with a Q-tip. Bring your brown friends!

Project One is at 251 Rhode Island St. and the event goes from 7-10:30pm.

I’ve only met Amit Gupta a couple of times, but I could tell right away that he is one of the most charismatic, creative, and talented guys in the Mission. You may know him as the founder of Photojojo, a site full of great photography projects and products. He also happens to be the roommate to some other awesome people.

Amit was diagnosed with Acute Leukemia two weeks ago and has started treatment. He will need a bone marrow transplant, but South Asian donors are severely underrepresented.

Here’s how you can help:

1. If you’re South Asian, get a free test by mail. You rub your cheeks with a cotton swab and mail it back. It’s easy.
2. If you’re in NYC, you can go to this event. If not, encourage your NYC friends to go.
3. If you know any South Asians, please point ‘em to the links above.

South Asia means India and surrounding countries, in case you missed that day in class.

For more details, see Amit’s blog.

Update: Even if you’re not South Asian, do it anyway. Many other minorities are underrepresented in the donor pool and need help.