To kick off this year’s Sweet Caroline mega-drive with the University of South Carolina’s Delta Zeta chapter, the women were able to experience a donor and recipient meeting with one of their very own sisters. In the spring of 2020, Whitney was a new member of Delta Zeta volunteering at her first Sweet Caroline drive where she decided to sign up for the registry. In 2023, Whitney received the call that she was a match with a blood cancer patient and was asked if she would be willing to donate her stem cells to them. Having extensive knowledge about the registry from volunteering, Whitney said yes without hesitation.
A year after a successful donation, Whitney was put in contact with her recipient, Beth, where they were able to exchange a letter with one another. The two occasionally would text, but they did not think they would have the opportunity to meet in person, as they lived on opposite sides of the country. That is until Project Life Movement (PLM) decided to bring the two together for the first time in Columbia, South Carolina, at the Delta Zeta chapter meeting that would kick-off their week-long tabling event.
PLM Executive Director, Ann Henegar, shared Beth’s cancer journey with the chapter and how Whitney, an alumnus of the chapter, donated life-saving cells to her. Then emotion filled the room as Whitney emerged from the crowd to reveal herself as Beth’s donor. The two embraced before gathering themselves to speak with the chapter about the importance of the work they would be doing that week. Many of the members reported being inspired by their meeting and it having influenced them to want to add as many new individuals as possible to the registry at the event to hopefully give another patient the chance to meet their life-saving match.
At the conclusion of the swabbing week, the women of Delta Zeta were able to add 1,600 new individuals to the global stem cell and marrow registry. Since partnering with Project Life Movement in the spring of 2020, the chapter has added almost 8,000 new potential donors with a total of 38 life-saving transplants.