During the first week of September, students of Crescenta Valley High School participated in their annual Club Expo, marking the beginning of the school year and allowing incoming students to be involved in the school community. During this event, over 180 clubs, certified by the Associated Student Body, had the opportunity to set up booths, promoting their clubs while recruiting new members for the school year.
Among these numerous clubs, Helpers for Miracle Marrow Matches or H3M, gained a great deal of attention for their peculiar motive. Whereas most school organizations were created to benefit students by offering opportunities to gain community service hours, H3M was created solely for the purpose of saving lives.
Club H3M is a part of the non profit organization A3M, which is an acronym for Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches. The club was created to help raise awareness for patients suffering from cancer and other blood-related diseases to find potential bone marrow donors.
The club members meet once a month to help package kits for the bone marrow donor registration drives. Students are given the opportunity to volunteer at local fairs, night markets, and campus events to help adults over the age of eighteen sign up to be bone marrow donors. The volunteers help with the registration process and get samples of DNA through a simple cotton swab swatch.
Cofounder Madeline Kim shared her goals and her experience with H3M exclaiming, “Although I am not over eighteen and can not be a donor myself, this club is very important to me especially because I know a family friend who has been suffering from leukemia since the age of thirteen. I truly see this club as an opportunity to come together as a school community regardless of age, ethnicity, and background to raise awareness for patients who require bone marrow transplants in order to survive. I hope this year is just as successful as last year and I look forward to hearing stories of recovery.”
The Crescenta Valley High School H3M community strives to inspire their diverse students and members to join together to save the lives of cancer patients!