GRAND RAPIDS, MI (February 7, 2008): Although Terry Celori and Angela Pastore have meant as much as life itself to each other for almost two years, they have never had the chance to meet in person – until now. The Alto, Michigan man and the Canton, Georgia woman will finally greet each other in person at Michigan Community Blood Centers Annual Evening of Thanks, tonight at the Pinnacle Center in Hudsonville.

Celori, 44, who manages plant protection services for Alticor in Ada, donated the bone marrow that save the life of Pastore, 25, now studying for a bachelor’s degree at Kennesaw State University. Both Celori and Pastore are featured guests at Evening of Thanks, which the Blood Center presents to honor blood drive chairpersons in West Michigan. About 400 guests are expected at the event, with Celori’s and Pastore’s in-person reunion taking place shortly before 8 p.m. Also speaking will be Bob Doornbos, a 23-gallon blood donor, and Katie VanDam, a blood transfusion recipient.

In addition, Michigan Community Blood Centers will give its Corporate Citizen Award to Alticor, which sponsored blood drives at six locations four times in 2007, collecting 823 pints of blood; hosted marrow donor registry drives over the past three years that recruited 156 donors for the National Marrow Donor Program’s (NMDP) international registry; and provided comprehensive support for Celori’s marrow donation.

“For all the blood drive organizers attending, we hope the stories of people whose lives have been affected by blood donations will add a very personal dimension to our Evening of Thanks,” said Heidi McDaniel, who supervises blood drive recruiters for Michigan Community Blood Centers in West Michigan. “Also, with the Corporate Citizen Award, we are establishing a new way to recognize and honor blood-drive sponsors that demonstrate exceptional commitment to this unique form of community service.”

Each year, more than 1,300 businesses, schools, churches, and other institutions and organizations sponsor blood drives with Michigan Community Blood Centers, collecting more than 31,000 pints of blood.

Pastore, a college student at the time, was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2005, the same year Celori, married and the father of two young children, joined the National Marrow Donor Program’s (NMDP) international registry of prospective donors. After months of chemotherapy, Pastore’s cancer went into remission for a short time but on her 23rd birthday, she discovered a swollen lymph node: the cancer was back. A stem-cell transplant seemed to present the best hope for survival. Four months after arriving at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, Pastore learned a donor had been found who matched her tissue type perfectly. It was Celori, although the two would not learn each other’s names until a year had passed (the standard length of the time NMDP requires before releasing donors’ and recipients’ names). Since then they have been corresponding, sending “e-mails galore, with lots of pictures,” according to Pastore.

An independent nonprofit blood bank, Michigan Community Blood Centers provides 100 percent of the regular blood supply for hospitals in four major regions, including all Kent and Barry County hospitals. Besides recruiting blood donors and collecting blood, Michigan Community Blood Centers also recruits marrow donors, provides supportive services for transplant patients and their families, and operates Michigan’s first nonprofit cord blood bank.

© Michigan Community Blood Centers