Most of you active members know Larry Goldberg, a frequent attendee at our meetups. Many of you may not know that two years ago this month, Larry suddenly and tragically lost his wife of five years, Susan, to acute leukemia.

Unfortunately, more than 20,000 people a year die from this terrible disease, a cancer of the bone marrow. Larry has devoted time and money to fight leukemia in the hopes that others won't have to endure his pain. You may remember his epic, 109-mile desert bike ride in November 2007 to raise money for the Leukemia Society. This year, he'd like to do something slightly different.

Persons suffering from leukemia often need blood transfusions, both to counteract the effects of abnormal blood cells and the side-effects of treatment. Patients with blood cancers frequently receive platelets and some red cells derived from donated whole blood. They may require more blood components overall than surgical patients because their need is likely to continue over a number of weeks or longer.

A new technology for donations will also be available. The Alyx System allows donors to give twice the red blood cells in a single visit. To qualify as an Alyx donor, males must be at least 5’ 1” and weigh at least 130 pounds, and women must be at least 5’ 5” and weigh at least 150 pounds. If you'd like to "double down" your donation, a more thorough "mini-physical" will be administered to reduce the likelihood you'll suffer any ill effects.

In order to reduce bottlenecks, and because the Alyx process takes a bit longer, the blood center has asked us to sign up in time slots. I'm going to use 15 minutes, since not everyone will donate using Alyx. Unless someone else needs the slots, I'm putting Larry down for 1:00 pm, and myself down for 1:15. Please put down the time slot you'd like when you RSVP. In order to avoid the "meetup math" where only half of the "Yes" RSVPs show, I will be circulating a signup sheet at the Briny on the 12th to get nice little signatures next to your time slot. There are no "MAYBE" responses allowed, and don't bother to RSVP "NO". (I've never quite understood that--but feel free to change your "YES" to a "NO" if you change your mind.)

Our group is now nearly 2,000 strong. Our goal is to have at least 25 brave souls step up and donate blood in Susan's name. We've arranged for the first 25 lucky participants to receive a small gift--a free movie at Muvico Theaters.

Will you help?