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Small steps can lead to big results.
Just ask long-distance trekker Rusty Bishop of Des Moines, who won a nationwide contest called "Inspiring Soles," which honors athletes who go to extraordinary lengths with their feet to inspire and help others.
Bishop donated his marrow in 2001 to a youngster through the Be The Match Registry. Since this life-saving donation, Bishop has run many races worldwide to help raise awareness and funds to cover the cost of tissue typing new registry members.
Among the events was a 150-mile trek in seven days across the Atacama Desert in northern Chile. While crossing the desert, Bishop asked friends and family to donate money to the Iowa Marrow Donor Program, a part of the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.
Upon his return, while still nursing the blisters on his feet, he co-sponsored a donor drive in Des Moines to raise even more awareness about the need for marrow donors.
In Bishop's honor, one of the "Inspiring Souls" sponsors, Crocs shoes, donated $30,000 to the Iowa Marrow Donor Program to help pay for the tissue typing of new members to the national registry. The other sponsor, Outside magazine, featured a full page ad for the national program in its April 2009 issue.
Colleen Chapleau, director of the Iowa Marrow Donor Program, said Bishop earned the nomination because of his tireless efforts to bring attention to the need for more people to register as donors and be added to the Be The Match Registry . "We greatly appreciate Rusty—and those who voted for him—for his efforts to help fund donor drives so that new donors do not have to pay for the necessary tissue typing," Chapleau said.
The prize money is being used to sponsor marrow drives throughout Iowa. If you would like to be put on a contact list about the events, please send an e-mail request to imdp@uiowa.edu.
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