ATLANTA -- More than 400 people have already answered the call to help Valaria Fenderson. The 11-year-old is battling sickle cell anemia and needs a bone marrow transplant.
On Friday, 11Alive's Help Desk held a bone marrow drive at Spelman College to fina Valaria a match. It will be several weeks before she has an answer.
In the meantime, Valaria and her mother are encouraging even more people to register as bone marrow donors, not just for her but for others like her.
According to the National Marrow Donor Program, each year 10,000 people need a marrow transplant, but don't have a match within their family.
To find out how register as a bone marrow donor, visit BeTheMatch.org.
On October 20, the Be The Match registry will hold a Be The One Run at Atlantic Station. Proceeds from the 5K, 1K Fun Run and Tot Trot will go toward helping marrow patients with uninsured treatment costs, researching marrow transplants, and adding volunteer donors to the national marrow registry. For details, visit BeTheOneRun.org.