Meet Lola DeYoung. She is a sweet 9 year old girl from Grandville, MI.
Lola is going into the fourth grade. She is a friendly, happy, outgoing girl who loves Jesus, her family, and her friends.
However, Lola is looking for one thing, her “unicorn match”.
Lola is a special girl who has captured the hearts of many individuals.
“Lola DeYoung was first diagnosed with leukemia in February 2011. After two years of treatment, she went into remission, but the cancer came back after only a few months. She received a high-risk treatment including spinal taps and brain radiation. Just as the end of the treatment seemed near, she relapsed a second time.”
Article: Wood TV 8
With Lola battling cancer once again, a bone marrow transplant may be the only way to save her life. This has been a difficult process due to the fact that Lola has an unusual genetic marker that makes it difficult to find a donor, so far there has been no matches. Lola refers to this as… “Looking for her unicorn match”.
However, Lola has hope. Thanks to Be The Match foundation, the members of this group have been working together to support fundraising for patients who need a marrow or umbilical cord blood transplant.
There was a video posted to Facebook advertising a bone marrow registry drive at Harbor Life Church in Grandville.
With the use of social media to raise awareness of Lola’s condition, the community responded with more than 700 people lining up to participate in the bone marrow registry.
It is truly amazing what can happen when an organization raises awareness and brings the community together. Be The Match foundation has provided Lola and her family with hope and support that they will find a match.
How YOU can help – Be The Match foundations states…
“Be The Match relies on our support to collect contributions from community members to further its mission. Proceeds will help add potential donors to the Be The Match Registry®. I hope you’ll consider making a contribution today. Together we can help save lives!”
Jessica Ames 