Doraville, Ga. -
FOR RELEASE: December 10, 2001GM Doraville Joins UAW-GM Drive To Sign Up Potential Bone Marrow Donors
The daughter of a GM Doraville employee is in need of a bone-marrow transplant
Doraville, Ga. - The United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 10 and the GM Doraville Assembly Plant are kicking off a bone-marrow registry drive today in conjunction with its quarterly American Red Cross Blood Drive. Workers at GM Doraville are volunteering as potential bone marrow and blood stem-cell donors as part of a national donor recruitment campaign sponsored jointly by the International UAW Union and General Motors.
The nationwide program, known as LifeMatch, was launched in October 2000 with the goal of the program to add 3,000 potential donors to the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) Registry. With eight stops at UAW-GM manufacturing facilities in Michigan, LifeMatch has surpassed its goal in less than one year. However, LifeMatch is continuing recruitment efforts throughout the United States. GM Doraville is the ninth stop in a nationwide tour to encourage employees to join the NMDP Registry.
In addition to trying to find a match for the GM Doraville employee's daughter in need of a bone-marrow transplant, a goal of this LifeMatch campaign includes raising awareness about the critical need for donors from diverse ethnic and minority groups, who tend to be under-represented in national donor registry lists.
"Through the LifeMatch program, employees at GM Doraville actually can help save lives," said Randy Thayer, plant manager at GM Doraville. "The LifeMatch program hits really close to home since the daughter of a GM Doraville employee needs a bone-marrow transplant. We hope as many people as possible participate in the LifeMatch drive to improve the chances of finding a match for the daughter of this GM Doraville employee and everyone else who is in need of a bone marrow or stem cell transplant." v "The members of the UAW Local 10 are hard-working men and women who care about each other and our community," said Claude Willis III, chairman of the UAW Local 10, which represents hourly workers at GM Doraville. "The donor registration program that we're kicking off today will give added hope to our UAW union brother whose daughter needs a transplant and anyone else who needs a bone marrow or stem cell transplant."
GM Doraville workers who volunteer as potential donors will undergo a simple blood test. A small blood sample will be "typed" for markers on the surface of white blood cells, and the results will then be entered on the computerized NMDP Registry.
Each year, an estimated 30,000 children and adults are diagnosed with life-threatening diseases, such as leukemia, for which a marrow or blood stem cell transplant can be a cure. Of this total, nearly 70 percent will not find a suitable donor in their family.
Because the characteristics of marrow and blood stem cells are inherited, like hair or eye color, a person is more likely to find a suitable match within his or her own ethnic community. With African-Americans, Hispanics and other minorities under-represented on donor registry lists, minority patients are less likely to find donor matches outside their families.
Minority groups comprise about 25 percent of GM's hourly U.S. workforce. With the LifeMatch initiative taking place at approximately 40 GM facilities in the U.S., this means that the UAW-GM LifeMatch program has the potential to make a significant impact on minority donor recruitment.
"Coming forward as a volunteer donor is a powerful and personal way to join the battle against blood-related cancers," said GM Cancer Research Foundation Chairman Harry J. Pearce. Chairman of Hughes Electronics Corporation, Pearce, a bone marrow recipient and chairman of The Marrow Foundation, a partner of the NMDP, challenged other corporations to join the cause by including marrow screenings any time they sponsor a health fair or a blood drive.
"UAW-GM people have a longstanding tradition of helping to make a positive impact on people's lives across America," said UAW Vice President Richard Shoemaker, who directs the union's General Motors Department. "I'm confident we can bring that same success to the LifeMatch program."
About General Motors
General Motors , the world's largest vehicle manufacturer, designs, builds and markets cars and trucks worldwide. It employs about 388,000 people globally. GM is investing aggressively in high technology and e-business within its global automotive operations and through such initiatives as e-GM, GM BuyPower, OnStar and its Hughes Electronics Corp. subsidiary. More information on General Motors can be found at www.gm.com.
About Hughes
HUGHES is the world's leading provider of digital television entertainment, broadband services, satellite-based private business networks and global video and data broadcasting. The earnings of HUGHES, a unit of General Motors Corporation, are used to calculate the earnings per share attributable to the General Motors Class H common stock . Visit HUGHES on the World Wide Web at www.hughes.com.
About the UAW
The International Union, UAW, represents about 140,000 hourly and salaried workers who work at GM facilities in the United States. More information on the UAW can be found at www.uaw.org.