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National Headquarters 4484 Marine Avenue Powell River, BC V8A 2K2 1-877-485-8488 toll-free
Every day, people young and old are diagnosed with leukemia and other blood diseases. Parents are unable to work or care for their families. Children are taken from the world of toys and playmates to the world of hospitals and chemotherapy. Hundreds of Canadians are faced with the fact that a bone marrow transplant is their only hope for survival. Our Mission: To improve the quality of life for those affected by blood-related illnesses and ensure a legacy so those who have gone before us are not forgotten. The Bruce Denniston Bone Marrow Society has been in the business of helping save lives since 1988. We educate the public about the need for bone marrow donors, and raise funds in support of the work of the One Match stem cell and marrow network, a program of Canadian Blood Services. One Match registers potential bone marrow donors and matches them to patients needing transplants, while Bruce Denniston Bone Marrow Society volunteers interact with patients and their families on a personal level. Spencer Kotowick is one such patient. By the time he was 14 years old he had been battling an auto-immune disease and Neutrophenia for almost half his life. Spencer is a remarkable young man. He served as poster boy for the 2006 Kamloops Mountie Stomp, an event to raise money for the Bruce Denniston Bone Marrow Society, where it was announced a bone marrow donor had been found on the unrelated bone marrow donor registry to provide a transplant. Doctors believed this to be his best chance of survival, and the transplant was done a few months later, followed by several months of recovery while Spencer waited for his blood to start producing platelets. During his stay at Ronald McDonald House in Vancouver, Spencer personally sold 172 copies of the Bruce Denniston Bone Marrow Society 2007 Fundraising Calendar, and his subsequent appearance on Global Television Morning News with Steve Darling resulted in many additional sales. Spencer currently serves on the BC Branch Board of Directors in an advisory capacity. Michael Paemöller is another bone marrow transplant recipient who is giving back to the community that helped him in his time of need. A single father to son Austin, Michael is now free of leukemia and has designed a shirt for those patients who must wear a Hickman™ line. The shirt will be provided free of charge to bone marrow transplant patients in British Columbia in 2010, and proceeds from the sale of the shirt to other Hickman™ line users will be donated to the Society. On July 10, 2008 the following email message was received by the Society: "I am impressed by your website and all that the Bruce Denniston Sociey does. Thank you from a 2-time bone marrow transplant recipient. ... I am thankful for all the volunteers who work so hard on behalf of blood cancer patients. Thanks so much." Sindi Hawkins
BN LLB MLA Kelowna-Mission
Deputy Speaker
of the British Columbia Legislature My husband and I are writing to thank you for your financial assistance for my stay at the Jean C. Barber Lodge in Vancouver. ...since receiving his first transplant on February 26th, 2009 he is doing much better. Cancer has certainly changed our lives. It is very overwhelming sometimes, though it has also shown us how many caring people there are out there in the world. Someone else whose life has been touched writes, It's a year ago that my brother was in the hospital and his family was flying in from all over 'cause we didn't think he had long to live. Now he's home and doing quite well, thanks to the donor and the bone marrow transplant. It really is quite miraculous! Thanks again for all your assistance.
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