This isn’t a post about a travel deal. Or a shopping sale. But this is a global issue and this is my blog. So please allow me to use this blog as my public soapbox and listen up. And maybe you or someone you know can help a boy originally from my hometown of Fremont, CA.

Please watch this video: Donor Search Difficult For E. Bay Leukemia Patient

Nick Glasgow of Pleasanton is in a race for his life. His only hope is a bone marrow transplant. Fast.

The 28-year old thought he had strep throat, but two months ago, he was diagnosed with something much worse: Leukemia.

Finding a donor, it turns out, is next to impossible, considering Nick’s diverse ethnic background.

“When the doctor found out that he was one-fourth Asian – one-fourth Japanese – he said, ‘Quite frankly there is a zero percent chance of finding a donor,'” said Nick’s mother, Carole Wiegand.

According to the Asian-American Donor Program, based in Alameda, there are 7.4 million registered donors in the U.S. Only 532,000 are of Asian descent. That’s 7.2 percent of the total. Only 219,000 donors are of multiple races.

“All ethnic minorities are severely underrepresented in the national donor program registry,” said Carol Gillespie of the Asian-American Donor Program.

What can you do to help?
1. Attend a local donor drive to have your cheek swabbed.
2. Register for a home kit. The Asian-American Donor Program (AADP) will send you a free kit if you are of any ethnic minority.
3. Consider donating to the AADP.
4. Spread the word! Please forward this information on to anyone you know who is part asian and part caucasian or of any other mixed ethnic background. My half-Mexican, half-Portuguese ethnic background may not help Nick, but it may help someone else out there.
5. Use the power of social media. Join Nick’s Facebook Group, post a Twitter message and more!

“It only takes one person. but if you’re that person and you’re sitting at home on the couch, then you’ll never be able to save someone,” said Gillespie.

I sent in my home kit today. What will you do?