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Community rallies around local scout

Bone marrow donor registration event ‘overwhelming’

By Nicole M. Wells, Special Writer
CRANBURY — Though it will take several weeks to determine if anyone who came out to the bone marrow registration drive on June 21 was a match for 12-year-old township Boy Scout Will Ellsworth, the community response was "overwhelmingly supportive," according to police officer Paul Lindenfeld.
"We had more volunteers than we knew what to do with," he said. "The Ellsworth family was overwhelmed with gratitude."
Will has a condition called aplastic anemia, which causes his body to produce insufficient numbers of red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets.
Because he lacks essential blood components, Will has a difficult time fighting off infection and has undergone numerous blood and platelet transfusions, as well as immunosuppressive therapy, in order to manage the disease, according to a press release from Community Blood Services.
A bone marrow transplant would replace his old marrow, to start producing healthy blood, and offers him the best chance of curing the rare disease, according to the release.
The Human Leukocyte Antigens (HLA) Registry at Community Blood Services organized the registration drive, which was sponsored by the Cranbury Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 68.
According to Officer Lindenfeld, about 86 people under the age of 44 signed up to become donors and 49 people older than 44 would like to donate.
"The registry would not swab those people that day because there is a cost of $100 per person for everyone over 44," Officer Lindenfeld said. "The FOP is asking those people to pay for the sample and, if they are unable, we looking for ways to fund processing of those samples."
According to Community Blood Services, once individuals are on the national Be The Match Registry, they are available to donate to Will and patients like him who are in need of bone marrow transplants. Individuals remain on the registry until the age of 61.
The Cranbury FOP sponsored the registration drive "because the officers are always interested in serving the community in times of need," Officer Lindenfeld said.
In the true spirit of community, he said the town came together to help one of its own.
All the food for the event was donated by Teddy’s Restaurant and Italian Touch Pizzeria and Triangle Copy in East Windsor donated the cost of the fliers and posters, according to Officer Lindenfeld.
David Wells Antiques and George’s Garage made monetary contributions, while the fire department hung the banner for the event and volunteers from the Lions Club and the Cranbury and Plainsboro Boy Scout troops "helped tremendously," Officer Lindenfeld said.
Additionally, many of the Ellsworth family’s neighbors, friends and family members came out to help, he said.
According to Officer Lindenfeld, people who missed the drive can still sign up to donate via the virtual drive, which the FOP is also sponsoring.
The virtual drive can be found at www.bethematch.org. The cheek swab kit will be sent through the mail upon completion of the registration form and entering Will’s unique promo code (WILLE2014). Once the completed cheek swab is sent back to Be The Match, the registration process is complete. The online drive will run from June 7 to July 31.
Individuals wishing to donate monetarily can help fund the family’s efforts by sending donations to The HLA Registry, 201 Chestnut Ridge Road, Montvale, NJ 07645. Checks should be made out to the Be The Match Foundation.
Community Blood Services has been serving the community for more than 60 years and provides blood and blood products to patients in more than 18 hospitals in New Jersey and New York state, according to the release. In addition to the HLA Registry, Community Blood Services houses the public New Jersey Cord Blood Bank.