Wednesday, September 16, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
21
Battle cancer with Sisters fire program class prepares volunteers
to mentor children
The Sisters-Camp Sherman
Fire District is hosting a free,
public drive to register people
with the Be The Match bone
marrow registry to help those
who are battling cancer.
The drive is being held on
Monday, September 21, from
3 to 7 p.m. in the community
hall located at 301 S. Elm
St. in Sisters. This drive is a
part of the Firefighters With
Matches effort to register
firefighters who wish to help
those suffering with cancer.
The typing process is quick
and simple and only requires a
painless cheek swab to obtain
the necessary information. It
is required for donors to be 18
to 60 years of age, in gener-
ally good health, and willing
to donate to any patient in
need. No appointment is nec-
essary. Just drop in and join
the registry.
Bone marrow donation is
a vital therapy used to treat
those suffering from blood
cancers such at leukemia and
lymphoma. Unlike blood
donations, which can be used
to help multiple patients, bone
marrow donation is very spe-
cific to donors and patients
who match detailed DNA pro-
files. When a patient needs
a marrow transplant, the
patient’s relatives are typically
assessed to determine if there
is a viable match. Often, it
is necessary to look outside
the patient’s family to find a
donor who is completely unre-
lated. This requires a registry
of willing participants who
have already gone through a
typing process.
The Be The Match ambas-
sador from the Sisters-Camp
Sherman Fire District is Fire
Medic Damon Frutos. His
brother, DeRew, was diag-
nosed last year with T-Cell
Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma
and has been undergoing
treatment for about a year.
Part of this treatment included
bone marrow therapy, and
it was necessary for Damon
and his three other brothers
to be assessed for a match.
Unfortunately, no match was
found for DeRew amongst his
family, but fortunately DeRew
was able to harvest his own
bone marrow after special
treatments.
This is not the case for
every patient. DeRew’s treat-
ment has been successful,
and as of August of this year
he has been deemed “cancer-
free.” It will take an additional
five years of maintenance
treatment and evaluations
with no signs of cancer before
he can be declared cured, but
the first big hurdle has been
overcome.
Damon joined the registry
many years ago because of
his desire to help others and
it made for a much quicker,
easier, and cheaper typing
process. Normally, there is
a charge to be assessed for a
match, but with public Be The
Match drives it is completely
free of charge.
Firefighters in particular
are at greater risk of blood
cancers due to the carcino-
gens which are often encoun-
tered in burning buildings.
Firefighters who are diag-
nosed with blood cancer often
receive a tremendous outpour-
ing of support from their fel-
low firefighters as well as the
community at large.
Joining the Be The Match
registry is a way to show
your support of those who
risk everything for the safety
of their community. The
Bend Fire Department and
Redmond Fire & Rescue are
also holding a public drive
on the same date, at the
same time, at the Bend Fire
Department Training Center
located at 63377 Jamison St.
in Bend.
For more information con-
tact Fire Medic Damon Frutos
at 541-549-0771.
Central
Oregon
Partnerships for Youth
(COPY), a program of the
Deschutes County Sheriff’s
Office, is offering a class to
prepare volunteers to become
mentors for children with an
incarcerated parent.
After initial training
and comprehensive back-
ground checks, volunteers
are matched with a child in
Sisters, Bend, Redmond,
or La Pine that share simi-
lar interests and commit to
spending a few hours a week
together for a minimum of
one year. This time is often
spent going to community
events, working on home-
work, attending art programs,
participating in sports, or sim-
ply hanging out and talking.
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On Saturday, September
26, COPY will offer an orien-
tation/training class.
This six-hour class cov-
ers program policies, how to
establish a mentor relation-
ship, the impact incarceration
has on families, and commu-
nication skills. There is no
cost to attend, but advance
registration is required. For
more information call 541-
388-6651 or email COPY@
deschutes.org.
Additional program infor-
mation is available at www.
sheriff.deschutes.org/copy.