Bone Marrow Drive to Help Member of Acorn School Family

STRATHAM — As the longtime director of Acorn School, a pre-school and kindergarten that is dedicated to fostering a love of learning, an appreciation for the natural world and encouraging children to give back to their community, Sue Bendroth dedicates her time to the youthful minds that come through Acorn School. The back-to school season is always an exciting and challenging time. However, this season she faces the challenge of her life. Her husband, Dave, has been diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome and has completed his second round of chemotherapy, but will need a bone marrow transplant in the near future.

Dave is one of approximately 150,000 people diagnosed with blood cancer each year. Many patients diagnosed with one of these diseases will need a stem cell or bone marrow transplant, and in the U.S., this number accounts for approximately 7,500 people searching the registry at any given time. With only 30 percent of patients able to find a donor within their families, 70 percent of patients will require a transplant from an unrelated donor.

The Acorn School Board of Directors, staff, family and friends are working together to organize a bone marrow drive from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Nov. 23 at the Stratham Municipal Center. The drive’s objective is to register as many people to the bone marrow registry as possible in hopes of helping Dave and others find a life-saving match. 

“I appreciate and am thankful for your many prayers, kind thoughts, encouraging words and warm hugs as I travel through this journey of treatment with my husband and family,” says Sue, who speaks about the overwhelming love and support that the Acorn School community has given her. Her family has great hopes that it will be able to find a match for Dave, and not only help him, but also others who suffer from blood-related diseases. 

Dedicated to giving to the community, Sue, her friends and family ask in return for the community to join them in giving the gift of life at this time of Thanksgiving by registering as potential bone marrow donors. 

For additional information about the bone marrow drive, visit here.

To watch a 2-minute video on how easy it is to register, visit here.