<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><font face="Lucida Grande, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" class=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">Dear JSUniks,</span></font><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><font face="Lucida Grande, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" class=""> A fabulous Jewish Hampshire alum needs your help to help her daughter who is suffering from a rare genetic disease. The full message from alum Rachel Gratz-Lazarus is posted below. Rachel is hoping one or more of you can help start a registration drive (next semester) at Hampshire--to register as many students as possible (particularly those of Ashkenazi Jewish descent) </font><b style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" class=""> to become bone marrow donors </b><font face="Lucida Grande, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" class="">(just take a cheek swab). If you have any interest in helping out, </font></span><span style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">Professor Laura Week would love to work with you.</span><div class=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" class=""></span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><font face="Lucida Grande, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" class="">Actually being a donor--if one is a match—is a more involved process—yet one that could save a life. </font></span></div><div class=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><font face="Lucida Grande, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" class=""><br class=""></font></span></div><div class=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><font face="Lucida Grande, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" class="">Please read Rachel’s full note posted below so you can get the whole story.</font></span></div><div class=""><font face="Lucida Grande, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" class=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><br class=""></span></font><div class=""><span style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">This site discusses what is entailed in the drive</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" class=""><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" class=""><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.norahneedsyou.com/donate?fbclid=IwAR09ElmlHuD0kORIEpr16njSjAat48cB9FRLmnWtruWHSTzIrG4liuTJGF4" data-mce-href="https://www.norahneedsyou.com/donate?fbclid=IwAR09ElmlHuD0kORIEpr16njSjAat48cB9FRLmnWtruWHSTzIrG4liuTJGF4" style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">https://www.norahneedsyou.com/donate?fbclid=IwAR09ElmlHuD0kORIEpr16njSjAat48cB9FRLmnWtruWHSTzIrG4liuTJGF4</a><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" class=""><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" class=""><font face="Lucida Grande, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" class=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">Please be in touch with me if you have any interest in this.</span></font></div><div class=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div class=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">With gratitude,</span></div><div class=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">Ellen<br class=""></span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" class=""><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" class=""><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" class=""><img class="" alt="" data-mce-src="./?_task=mail&_id=5303083975c09530bb48eb&_action=display-attachment&_file=rcmfile5241544114956012556000" style="border: 0px; cursor: default; font-family: "Lucida Grande", Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" apple-inline="yes" id="1D281CD8-D856-4B73-A3ED-3343C47A971C" src="cid:78C12972-D187-4F6D-BAD2-DFB743214C84@hsd1.ma.comcast.net."><p data-mce-style="margin: 1em 0px; caret-color: #666666; font-size: 12.000000953674316px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 1em 0px; caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-size: 12.000000953674316px;" class="">Ok friends, this is really hard, but here goes: </p><p data-mce-style="margin: 1em 0px 0px; caret-color: #666666; font-size: 12.000000953674316px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 1em 0px 0px; caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-size: 12.000000953674316px;" class="">Last month our 4-year old daughter Norah was diagnosed with a rare genetic disease called Fanconi Anemia (FA). <span class="text_exposed_show" data-mce-style="display: inline; font-family: inherit;" style="display: inline; font-family: inherit;">FA, in essence, interferes with the body's ability to properly repair its DNA, and increases sensitivity to radiation. This puts Norah at high risk for a variety of cancers -- the greatest risk in the coming years being leukemia. If untreated, 90% of FA patients develop leukemia and/or bone marrow failure. Currently, the only known treatment to prevent leukemia is a bone marrow transplant.</span></p><div class="text_exposed_show" data-mce-style="display: inline; font-size: 12.000000953674316px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; display: inline; font-size: 12.000000953674316px;"><p data-mce-style="margin: 1em 0px; font-family: inherit;" style="margin: 1em 0px; font-family: inherit;" class="">We are grateful that Norah is currently healthy. She is the same bouncy, imaginative and head-strong little lady she has always been. However, Norah's doctors are preparing us for the need to do a bone marrow transplant in the next few years. Should her situation worsen, she will be in immediate need of a bone marrow donor with an exact match in order to make sure that the procedure is successful.</p><p data-mce-style="margin: 1em 0px; font-family: inherit;" style="margin: 1em 0px; font-family: inherit;" class="">While finding an exact bone marrow match is difficult, the likelihood of a match increases substantially among ancestral lines, and for Norah this means we are looking primarily for a donor with Jewish Ashkenazi (Eastern European) ancestry.</p><p data-mce-style="margin: 1em 0px; font-family: inherit;" style="margin: 1em 0px; font-family: inherit;" class="">However, we are also determined to increase the pool of potential bone marrow donors in the registry for all those in need of a transplant (a lack of diverse donors, and mixed-race donors in particular, contributes to health inequities).</p><p data-mce-style="margin: 1em 0px; font-family: inherit;" style="margin: 1em 0px; font-family: inherit;" class="">Zach and I are launching a campaign to recruit 10,000 people between the ages of 18-44 to join the national bone marrow donor registry to help save our daughter's life and others in need of a transplant. We have created the website <a href="http://www.norahneedsyou.com/?fbclid=IwAR16LwLhFXlF-qNyj-Y6zlZGHIEr9Jl2cFJQzSE_LHo5M96ouAYHMtjwdpc" data-mce-href="http://www.norahneedsyou.com/?fbclid=IwAR16LwLhFXlF-qNyj-Y6zlZGHIEr9Jl2cFJQzSE_LHo5M96ouAYHMtjwdpc" data-mce-style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none; font-family: inherit;" style="color: rgb(54, 88, 153); cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none; font-family: inherit;" class="">www.NorahNeedsYou.com</a> to share more and offer options for how to help. Please visit and share!</p><p data-mce-style="margin: 1em 0px; font-family: inherit;" style="margin: 1em 0px; font-family: inherit;" class="">How can you help? </p><p data-mce-style="margin: 1em 0px; font-family: inherit;" style="margin: 1em 0px; font-family: inherit;" class="">1. Register here if you are between 18-44: <a href="https://join.bethematch.org/SwabforNorah?fbclid=IwAR1mBJgkKLLcJVwYPLf1hQKnsmXCixO1_dPSdH0Jmm3zylr8RW-Nwg3NFpU" data-mce-href="https://join.bethematch.org/SwabforNorah?fbclid=IwAR1mBJgkKLLcJVwYPLf1hQKnsmXCixO1_dPSdH0Jmm3zylr8RW-Nwg3NFpU" data-mce-style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none; font-family: inherit;" style="color: rgb(54, 88, 153); cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none; font-family: inherit;" class="">http://join.bethematch.org/SwabforNorah</a>. Registering is an easy process that involves completing a quick 6-minute online form and doing a simple painless cheek swab a few days later when the swab kit arrives at your home. If a person is found to be a match, and willing/able to donate, the donor procedure is very low-risk (contrary to common perceptions) and the benefits are literally life-saving.</p><p data-mce-style="margin: 1em 0px; font-family: inherit;" style="margin: 1em 0px; font-family: inherit;" class="">2. Like & Share the Norah Needs You FB Page: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/NorahNeedsYou" data-mce-href="https://www.facebook.com/NorahNeedsYou" data-mce-style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none; font-family: inherit;" style="color: rgb(54, 88, 153); cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none; font-family: inherit;" class="">www.facebook.com/NorahNeedsYou</a>and encourage others to register</p><p data-mce-style="margin: 1em 0px; font-family: inherit;" style="margin: 1em 0px; font-family: inherit;" class="">3. Email your network and encourage at least 10 people in your community to register (sample email on website: <a href="https://www.norahneedsyou.com/sample-email?fbclid=IwAR1BBDsDv9hhOsLxRVb_AtKAoj2nBlHxPmPBGYwFTe_i2kdbXegxaODf9Ec" data-mce-href="https://www.norahneedsyou.com/sample-email?fbclid=IwAR1BBDsDv9hhOsLxRVb_AtKAoj2nBlHxPmPBGYwFTe_i2kdbXegxaODf9Ec" data-mce-style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none; font-family: inherit;" style="color: rgb(54, 88, 153); cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none; font-family: inherit;" class="">https://www.norahneedsyou.com/sample-email</a>)</p><p data-mce-style="margin: 1em 0px; font-family: inherit;" style="margin: 1em 0px; font-family: inherit;" class="">4. Host a drive (visit our website to learn how: <a href="https://www.norahneedsyou.com/donate?fbclid=IwAR09ElmlHuD0kORIEpr16njSjAat48cB9FRLmnWtruWHSTzIrG4liuTJGF4" data-mce-href="https://www.norahneedsyou.com/donate?fbclid=IwAR09ElmlHuD0kORIEpr16njSjAat48cB9FRLmnWtruWHSTzIrG4liuTJGF4" data-mce-style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none; font-family: inherit;" style="color: rgb(54, 88, 153); cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none; font-family: inherit;" class="">https://www.norahneedsyou.com/donate</a> )</p><p data-mce-style="margin: 1em 0px; font-family: inherit;" style="margin: 1em 0px; font-family: inherit;" class="">5. Donate to the Fanconi Anemia Research Fund to help find a cure: <a href="https://fundraise.fanconi.org/give/160689/?fbclid=IwAR3iAz_gSAQ1s4f9_6OYJFGcZvAhNC2pnuMCgRnhs0OZahG9hVpo6hcYy4Y#!/donation/checkout" data-mce-href="https://fundraise.fanconi.org/give/160689/?fbclid=IwAR3iAz_gSAQ1s4f9_6OYJFGcZvAhNC2pnuMCgRnhs0OZahG9hVpo6hcYy4Y#!/donation/checkout" data-mce-style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none; font-family: inherit;" style="color: rgb(54, 88, 153); cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none; font-family: inherit;" class="">https://fundraise.fanconi.org/give/160689/…</a></p><p data-mce-style="margin: 1em 0px; font-family: inherit;" style="margin: 1em 0px; font-family: inherit;" class="">We love Norah with all of our hearts. She’s our tap dancer. Our joke teller. Our goofy bookworm. And, as you can imagine, we are holding a lot right now. We are heartbroken, we are scared. We are also hopeful and determined to make this okay. We are grateful for your love and support of our family - it means the world to us.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br class=""></p></div><pre class="moz-signature" style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; padding: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap !important;">____________________________________</pre><div class=""><br class=""></div></div></div></body></html>