CELEBRATE
with
HOSA WEEK
NMDP CHEEK WEEK!
Looking for a fun way to celebrate HOSA Week AND help save lives?
NMDP "Cheek Week" is a perfect opportunity to fundraise and add more donors to the NMDP Registry®
NMDP MONDAY: Who is NMDP?
We “mustache” you to support saving lives with NMDP! Everyone wears mustaches and your chapter could sell them.
Suggested messaging for the day:
For people with life-threatening blood cancers — like leukemia and lymphoma — or other diseases like sickle cell, a cure exists. NMDP connects patients with their donor match for a life-saving blood stem cell transplant. NMDP provides patients and their families with one-on-one support, education, and guidance before, during, and after transplant.
TWINNING TUESDAY: How does matching work?
"Match" a friend by dressing the same.
Suggested messaging for the day:
Matching stem cell donors is much more complex than matching blood types. Doctors match donors to patients based on their human leukocyte antigen (HLA) tissue type. HLA are proteins, or markers, found on most cells in your body. Your immune system uses these markers to recognize which cells belong in your body and which do not. A close HLA match between donor and patient is the most important matching factor. There are many HLA markers that make each person’s tissue type unique.
Patients are most likely to match a donor with the same ethnic/racial background. Not all patients have the same chance of finding a suitable donor due to the lack ofdiverse donors on the registry.
'WHY' WEDNESDAY: Why we support NMDP
Give patients more holidays with their families. Dress up for your favorite holiday!
Suggested messaging for the day:
Share a patient story. Many can be found on the blog and social channels. Feel free to reach out to hosa@nmdp.org for a searching patient story.
TOTALLY THURSDAY: NMDP was established in 1987
Make it a totally tubular '80s party!
Suggested messaging for the day:
When their 10-year-old daughter Laura was diagnosed with leukemia, Robert Graves, D.V.M., and his wife Sherry were ready to do anything they could to save her. Desperate to save her life, they turned to alternative treatment options. They agreed to try the first ever bone marrow transplant for a leukemia patient from an unrelated donor. Laura received her transplant in 1979. And it worked. The successof the treatment inspired the Graves to give other families the same hope for a cure. Thanks to Dr. Graves, other patient families, doctors, congressional support and funding from the U.S. Navy, a national registry of volunteers willing to donate bone marrow was born. NMDP conducted their first transplant in 1987.
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NMDP ROCKS FRIDAY: Host a swabbing and fundraising event
HOSA rocks the registry so everyone dress up like a ROCK STAR!
Suggested messaging for the day:
Help us "Rock the Registry!" by joining the registry [insert your chapter's join keyword url] or making a financial donation here [insert your chapter's team page donation form].
MORE THEME IDEAS
Out of This World Day: Kick blood cancer and blood diseases out of this universe.
Superhero: Anyone can be a superhero to a patient.
Supervillain: There is no worse villain than blood cancer or blood disease.
Western Day - Give blood cancer and blood diseases the boot.
ACTIVITIES AND FUNDRAISING IDEAS
Chalk the Walk: Write messages about NMDP on your school’s sidewalks.
Messages of Hope: Cut out construction paper hearts and shapes, then have students write messages of hope to patients. Contact us at hosa@nmdp.org to send these in to go to patients!
Penny Wars: It's ON between grades/classes! Each group gets their own container to collect coins. The goal is to get as many points as possible. Pennies are worth positive points, like 1 point each. But here’s the tricky part: other coins or bills can subtract points from your score. For example, if someone puts a nickel in your container, you lose 5points. The group with the most points at the end wins the Penny War and gets to celebrate their victory.
Guess the number of swabs in a jar: $1 per guess and the closest to the correct number wins a prize!
Pin Up Campaign: Sell NMDP pin ups and post them in the school. More information and order information here.