Christine Guest Blogs

Christine, our intern from NYU

Hello There,
My name is Christine Johnson and I am just about to complete my first year at NYU. Last semester, my good friend Chere See, an international student from Singapore, started a DKMS club at NYU. In her senior year of high school, she helped organize a donor drive that registered over one thousand people in Singapore’s national registry. So, when she came to NYU, she wanted to continue here what she had started overseas. When I saw her passion, I could not resist joining the new club. We are small (but mighty!), and we work closely with DKMS Americas. On February 8th, DKMS @ NYU held its first donor drive in Goddard Residence Hall where we registered 54 students. Since then, we have held drives at Brittany and at 3rd North Residence Halls. Total, the club has helped register 131 students and we hope to up that number next year! Recognizing that it costs DKMS $65 to register each donor, we also wanted to start fundraising. We got our hands on some really cool new NYU sweatshirts (three different kinds) and began selling them at drives and other NYU events for 40% off of the bookstore price. We have raised almost $300 so far.

I met Ellie and Maria at the first donor drive. Ellie let me watch ‘How I Met Your Mother’ on her iPod, and I knew then that this organization was pretty awesome. About a week later, DKMS sent out a Facebook message asking for an intern. I couldn’t turn down the chance to work with such amiable people. So, I interviewed and got the job. I am now a Consultant with DKMS Americas. My responsibilities run the gamut, and I do everything from assembling registration kits to helping at donor drives to guest blogging. I love working here and getting the chance to be a part of an organization whose mission it is to save lives everyday!