A non-profit organisation that helps people with blood cancer and blood disorders held a fund-raiser at a Rotary carols concert on Sunday.
DKMS Africa, which has a global registry of 11.5 million stem cell donors, approached the Rotary Club of Kirstenbosch to hold the “Bell of Hope” fund-raiser at this year’s Carols at Kirstenbosch.
DKMS Africa spokeswoman Nabiella de Beer said the country’s inequality could be seen among South Africans with blood cancers and blood diseases as the state did not cover donor-related costs for stem cell transplants from an unrelated donor.
“It is for this reason that DKMS Africa embarked on a fund-raising campaign to relieve some of the financial burdens on these patients and help give them a second chance at life through the Bell of Hope campaign. We challenged South Africans to help us to ring the bell for five transplant patients by donating to this initiative. We also wanted to raise awareness and remind the public that they have the power to help save a life,” she said.
On Sunday, the Bell of Hope was rung for 30 seconds to acknowledge every person who had donated to the campaign. The Kirstenbosch sewing group also handed out “Christmas bells of hope” to everyone who registered as a donor.
DKMS was founded more than 30 years ago in Germany and in 2021 it merged with the South African Sunflower Fund to form DKMS Africa.
DKMS Africa has its own research unit focused on continually improving the survival and recovery rate of patients.
