‘Will You Marrow Me’ Helps Fill a Dire Need
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‘Will You Marrow Me’ Helps Fill a Dire
Need
September 27, 2016
Mika Yoshino started Will You Marrow Me in October 2015, after being selected to present her idea at the
2015 MSSA Innovates conference.
Mika Yoshino, director, KP’s Service Strategy & Member
Experience, wasn’t always a bone marrow donation
champion. But the seed was planted when she learned
about Bay, her niece Nora’s preschool classmate, who was
diagnosed with leukemia and struggling to find a bone
marrow donor match.
Yoshino learned we have a national shortage of bone
marrow donors, especially for certain populations. Of the
more than 13 million registered donors, 67 percent are
Mika Yoshino and her niece Nora, now 11.
Caucasian and the remaining 33 percent cover all other
races and mixed races, including 7 percent African-
American, 7 percent Asian, 10 percent Latino, and 4 percent for all mixed races.
When thinking about Bay, who is of mixed race Asian and German descent, an idea began to take shape:
Could she tap KP’s large and diverse workforce for bone marrow donations?
Yoshino started Will You Marrow Me in October 2015, after being selected to present her idea at the 2015
MSSA Innovates conference, an annual event celebrating innovative ideas — submitted by employees from the
Marketing, Sales, Service and Administration teams — that can help make KP a better place to work and to
receive care.
“I knew that many KP employees would want to be a part of
this work and help make a difference in the lives of those in
need! And I’m happy to say that since we launched our
donor registration program in October 2015, more than 60
KP employees have registered and we’re striving to reach
100 by the end of the year.”
Returning to normal life
Bay was eventually able to find a partial matching donor and
he recently received amazing news from his doctors. After
more than 650 days of treatment, he has been given the OK
to stop taking his medication, he no longer needs to wear a face mask, and once he gets immunized at the end
of the month, he can go back out in the world. He’s excited to go to sporting events, amusement parks, and eat
at crowded restaurants. But the best news for Bay was learning that he can go back to school. His mom posted
on Facebook that Bay is “beside himself with excitement! He screamed with joy when he heard the news.”
As a busy full-time employee, finding time was the biggest challenge Yoshino faced when launching Will You
Marrow Me. She spent a lot of nights and weekends researching the scale of the problem, making connections,
and developing a compelling story.
To gain a valuable perspective on real-world challenges, she connected with Bay’s family, who were struggling
to find him a donor match. She also partnered with the Asian American Donor Program (AADP) and learned
how to tap into their resources to increase registration. Viewing Ted Talks online helped her develop and
deliver the compelling story she shares with KP employees.
“I continue to be reminded of why I love to work at Kaiser Permanente,” says Yoshino. “No matter which region
or function I work with, it has been easy for me to find partners who help share my story in the hope of inspiring
others to register and get the word out. Together, we continue to help our members and the communities we
serve.”
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‘Will You Marrow Me’ Helps Fill a Dire Need
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Since she launched Will You Marrow Me, Yoshino has organized bone marrow registration drives in
Pleasanton, Oakland, Burbank, and Rancho Cucamonga in California, and in Denver, Colorado. Additional
drives for 2016 are being scheduled in California, including Oct. 19 in Burbank.
You Can Make a Difference
Registration efforts by Will You Marrow Me and the Asian American Donor
Program are inclusive of all genetic combinations and they encourage everyone
who is eligible to consider becoming a donor.
(Please note: Ideal donors are between the ages of 18 and 44 because research
shows that cells from younger donors provide the greatest chance for a
successful transplant.)
To register, you need to order a home test kit, return it with your cheek swab,
and then register online at http://join.bethematch.org/Kaiser. If you are a match,
you will be called upon to donate peripheral blood stem cells or bone marrow.
Donating PBSC is the most common procedure and requires five days of
injections and a non-surgical procedure. The donor is hooked up to a machine
that filters stem cells from blood. If you are asked to donate marrow, it will be
extracted from your pelvic bone while you are under general anesthesia. Bone
marrow donors may experience one to two weeks of muscle pain.
Visit https://bethematch.org/ for more information about becoming a national
bone marrow donor or contact Mika Yoshino if you are interested in hosting a
bone marrow drive.
If you know of a KP colleague who's doing great things, or has had an amazing experience, please let us know
about it! Email insideKP editor Karen Hershenson ([email protected]).
Updated: September 27, 2016
Content coordinator: Brian Rosa
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