Business mogul urges national Black bone marrow donation.

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Author: Arinde, Nayaba1

"Save a life while you're alive. African Americans need African Americans to join the national bone marrow and blood stem cell donor database," said a 21-year-old business mogul who goes by the name Farrah Gray. He has an office on Wall Street, and his book "Reallonaire" is an Essence & Barnes & Noble number one best seller. His face is featured on MasterCard, and now the young man with a storied past has launched a nationwide campaign to highlight the need for Black folk to help other Black folk in dire need for-bone marrow and stem cells.

His sister Greek Gray has leukemia and is in urgent need of a bone marrow transplant.

"Donor databases in the U.S. are sorely void of matching criteria for the Black and the Brown," Gray told the Amsterdam News. "Therefore we need our community now."

Diagnosed with AML leukemia a year ago, Greek Gray had a brief remission for six months, but just recently she suffered a relapse.

"My sister represents the thousands who are waiting for a bone marrow donor, which could mean the difference between life or death," said Gray. "She desperately needs a bone marrow transplant and we are searching for an African American donor. She needs a donor within 90 days."

Gray's appeal mirrors that of rapper Nelly, who launched his own "Jes Us 4 Jackie" campaign in 2003, to find a donor for his sister Jackie. Unfortunately she passed away last year before a donor match could be found.

"My campaign is to bring a transplant not only to my sister, but to the many patients worldwide in need of a marrow or blood stem cell donor and increase the number of donors in the National Marrow Donor Program Registry," said Gray. He noted that Black patients require matching tissue from a potential donor.

"Black and African American patients need Black and African American donors, so we need more of our folks to join the registry of the National Marrow Donor Program."

He opined that although the registry boasts 5.5 million potential volunteer bone marrow and blood stem cell donors, despite African Americans making up at least 12% of the population, they make up only 6% of the bone marrow registry.

The self-styled venture capitalist says that he became a millionaire when he was 15 years old, and tells some of his secrets in "Reallionaire: Nine Steps to Becoming Rich From the Inside Out."

But, for now his focus is on saving his sister and others awaiting life-saving donations.

"We are at a time when our souls and health are in great danger. We need our community now. We're nothing without unity," said Gray. "Individual tiny snowflakes are meaningless, but when they come together they can shut down cities and states, and we can too if we come together. If people want to set up a bone marrow drive in their area people should call 212-859-5028."

For more information visit www.greekgrayleukemiafoundation.org or contact the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) at 800-526-7809.

PHOTO (BLACK & WHITE): Greek Gray is in urgent need of a bone marrow transplant.

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By Nayaba Arinde, Amsterdam News Staff