The company C&A, a world renown fashion house, has made a donation worth 8,500 kuna to support the years of effort made by the Ana Rukavina Foundation in order to save as many leukemia sufferers as possible. The entire amount of the donation will be used toward expanding the Registry of voluntary bone marrow donors and to HLA tissue type the collected blood samples, both of which increase the patients’ chances of finding a bone marrow donor.
Today, with more than 1,300 outlets and around 35,000 employees in 19 European countries, the company C&A is one of the largest clothing retailers. In Croatia they currently have seven outlets in five cities (Zagreb, Varaždin, Karlovac, Zadar and Split). A very important and highly regarded part of C&A’s business philosophy is social responsibility. In that respect, the company supports and finances a number of humanitarian projects in local markets, as well as in its suppliers’ countries.
“In its market approach, C&A shows a great deal of care about the welfare of the communities in which it operates and realizes its business results. We want to make a difference regarding the protection of human lives, and that is the main reason we are taking part in this humanitarian action,” said Tomislav Marinčić, district manager of the company C&A.
Every year in Croatia, about 80 to 100 people are diagnosed with some form of leukemia or lymphoma, and out of those, one third of them find donors within their families. The goal of the national registry is to make it easier for them to find a voluntary donor and thus give them a chance to live. HLA (Human Leukocyte Antigen) tissue typing makes it possible to search for genetic compatibility and tissue tolerance between the donors and the patients whose treatment includes bone marrow or stem cell transplants. With its donation, the company C&A recognized the importance of the Foundation’s work and presented itself as a true benefactor who cares about the community in which it operates and acts.
“In order to thank everyone who supported the work of the Foundation and with their donations helped to expand the Registry and tissue type the collected blood samples, this year, for the fifth year in a row, the Foundation once again organized its traditional Christmas concert “I want life”. I am especially glad that every day there are more and more charitable and voluntary initiatives which help us continue with our mission to give hope to all those who are suffering,” said Marija Rukavina, director of the Ana Rukavina Foundation.
All the registries of bone marrow donors are consolidated into the World Registry – Bone Marrow Donors Worldwide. The greater the number of donors in the registry, the greater the chances are of finding a matching donor and saving someone’s life. Tissue typing is a very expensive procedure, with each blood sample costing 1,085 kuna to tissue type. The Foundation has collected 33,031 blood samples until today, of which 19,272 donors have been tissue typed. Until now, the Registry has helped to save three lives abroad and four Croatian patients.