Shelly Inspires Her Company To "Save Lives"

Gina-

I am so glad that you emailed me again. I will attach a copy of the letter that will appear on our company’s intranet sight on September 15th; this will explain why I did what I did. As far as how I did it, it was really rather simple. I contacted Memorial Blood Centers and asked them what they needed from me in order to put together a blood drive. Rachel came to my office and explained how it worked. I talked with several of our customers over the next few weeks to get their feedback and then decided on a date. I sent out fliers about 8 weeks prior to the event. Then I called our local radio station and they ran an ad for free because it was non-profit. I placed posters all over our building and made a whole bunch of reminder phone calls. Since the blood drive I have had several people show interest in donating again as soon as they can. I have been in contact with Rachel and am currently working on another drive, hopefully mid October. I have not been in contact with anyone from nmdp. I would be more then happy to join forces with Kelly and try and put a marrow drive together. Here is the letter I wrote for our pipeline.

Have you ever witnessed something so profound that you are not only moved to tears, but to action as well?

In November of 2007 I had a friend that was severely burned in an electrical fire. We were all able to stay on top of his condition thanks to a Caring Bridge website. Caring Bridge offers free personalized websites that support and connect loved ones during a critical illness, treatment and recovery. It was here that I also first witnessed the journey of the Cousineau family.

Evan Cousineau was diagnosed with ALD or Adrenoleukodystrophy. ALD is a deadly genetic disease that affects 1 in 18,000 people. It most severely affects boys and men. This disease ravages the brain, and the symptoms grow worse, including blindness & deafness, seizures, loss of muscle control and dementia. This relentless downward spiral leads to death or permanent disability usually with in 2-5 years of diagnosis.

Evan received a bone marrow transplant as well as two cord blood transplants in an effort to try and stop this horrible disease from progressing and possibly save his life. Just as you have to find a match for a kidney donation, the same is true of cord blood. (This is blood from an umbilical cord)

On November 2nd, 2007, one day before his 10th birthday, Evan lost his battle.

Through their pain, the Cousineau family has been changing lives one drive at a time. They have been campaigning to "Save lives in honor of Evan". The drives they do are for bone marrow, platelets, organ donation, cord blood and other blood products. If you have a chance please visit Evan's Caring Bridge website @ caringbridge.org. Select visit and type in evancousineau. You can join Evan's entourage and view the family's montage in an effort to save lives. I assure you, you will be moved as well.

This is what led me to the mission behind the blood drive. We teamed it with customer appreciation day due to a strong interest from our customers.

It was a beautiful day and a great event. We had 15 first time donors, with a total of 18 units of blood collected.

If you visit Evan's guestbook and sign, please make sure to let the family know that you are with Ferguson.

I read and re-read Evan’s cb my story and hope that I relayed it properly. I will contact Kelly through Dom’s website. I can’t imagine how incredibly busy you are, so thanks again for keeping in touch. I am still moved by your efforts every day Gina.

Shelly