Marrow Recipient Meets Donor During Ceremony Celebrating 25,000 USPS Employees on National Marrow Registry

WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- No organization -- public or private sector -- has volunteered as much as the U.S. Postal Service has by delivering the "gift of life" with more than 25,000 employees joining the National Marrow Donor Program Registry. On Nov. 8, at a special ceremony at Postal Service Headquarters to celebrate this remarkable achievement, a marrow recipient will be introduced to his donor. In this case, it is a Postal employee Richard Tate, who received a life-saving marrow donation. The Postal Service celebrated this milestone to coincide with November being National Marrow Awareness Month.

"The United States Postal Service has a strong tradition of helping out in the communities we serve," said John E. Potter, Postmaster General and Chief Executive Officer of the U.S. Postal Service. "By participating in the Delivering the Gift of Life campaign, our employees increase the effectiveness and outreach of this life-saving program. We're proud to support this important initiative."

In 1997, the Postal Service joined forces with the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP), The Marrow Foundation and 3M, forming the Delivering the Gift of Life campaign. The campaign builds awareness of the need for unrelated volunteer marrow donors. Over 25,000 Postal employees have joined the NMDP Registry through the campaign, and more than 60 have made life-saving marrow donations.

"We are most grateful to the United States Postal Service for adding more than 25,000 employees to the National Marrow Donor Program Registry," said Jill E. McGovern, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer, The Marrow Foundation. "This is an extraordinary occasion and more patients will now have a second chance at life, thanks to the commitment of the Postal Service. During National Marrow Awareness Month we hope the U.S. Postal Service's success will raise the level of awareness about the importance of joining the Registry to help save lives."

In 1986, Richard Tate, a 21-year Postal employee from Wilmington, DE, was diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia, a slow-growing cancer of the white blood cells. At 39, Tate was given just two to three years to live and was immediately placed on the marrow transplant list. Despite his prognosis, Tate surprised doctors and endured 11 years of treatment.

"Getting the diagnosis was very emotional, it was hard getting my 'death sentence' but my family and Postal family were very supportive," said Tate, currently a retail sales associate. "It wasn't until 1997 when I was notified a match was found and I would be receiving a marrow transplant. If it weren't for this transplant, I would not have been able to experience my four grandsons."

Michael Bonner, Tate's donor, joined the registry in Miami, FL, and was notified just six months later that he was a potential match. "I was surprised how soon it all happened, some people never come up as a match or are on the registry for years," said Bonner, marrow donor and FBI agent. "The whole process was much easier than I thought; knowing what cancer patients go through really humbled my experience. Donating was no sacrifice for me-it was virtually painless and I was back to work a few days later."

While more than 25,000 Postal employees are currently on the Registry, the number keeps growing. The National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) and its partner The Marrow Foundation help people who need a life-saving marrow or blood cell transplant. By connecting patients, doctors, donors and researchers to the resources they need to help more people live longer and healthier lives.

Marrow and blood cell transplants are a life-saving treatment option for patients with diseases of the blood and immune system, including leukemia, lymphoma and certain genetic disorders. It is estimated that more than 35,000 children and adults with life-threatening diseases each year could benefit by marrow or blood cell transplants. The NMDP facilitates more than 2,200 transplants annually, and has provided more than 20,000 patients a second chance at life.

Cancer patients all over the world need people to donate marrow, become a donor by joining the National Marrow Donor Program Registry, donate other blood products, such as whole blood or platelets, or volunteer at a local NMDP donor center, recruitment group or cord blood bank. Visit http://www.marrow.org/ or http://www.themarrowfoundation.org/ for more information.

Since 1775, the U.S. Postal Service has connected friends, families, neighbors and businesses by mail. An independent federal agency, the Postal Service makes deliveries to more than 142 million addresses every day and is the only service provider to deliver to every address in the nation. The Postal Service receives no taxpayer dollars for routine operations, but derives its operating revenues solely from the sale of postage, products and services. With annual revenues of $69 billion, it is the world's leading provider of mail and delivery services, offering some of the most affordable postage rates in the world. Moreover, today's postage rates will remain stable until at least 2006. The U.S. Postal Service delivers more than 46 percent of the world's mail volume -- some 206 billion letters, advertisements, periodicals and packages a year -- and serves seven million customers each day at its 37,000 retail locations nationwide.