I was asked to participate in the Visionary of the Year Campaign by my good friend, Aaron Bains, who participated in the campaign last year. Aaron lost his younger sister to blood cancer at a young age, which is what motivated him to participate in the campaign. Part of my motivation for participating in the campaign is to help Aaron with his mission and continue what he started last year.

In addition to carrying on Aaron’s mission, I want to raise awareness for the need for bone marrow donors within the South Asian community, and beyond. Upon doing research on blood cancer, I have come to learn that ethnic groups are under represented on the world’s registries. For example, there are over 22 million donors listed in the Be The Match Registry, but only about three percent of those are South Asian. Since donors from a similar ethnic background are more likely to be a match, there is a vital need for individuals of different ethnic backgrounds to register themselves as bone marrow donors; it could be a life saving act.

I have come together with a number of my good friends this year to raise as much funds as we can in support of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada (LLSC). In addition to asking for donations, we are also asking individuals to become bone marrow donor registrants. By coming together as a community, we can continue the push to finding a cure for blood cancers and increase the odds for bone marrow transplant matches.

Thank you for your support.