City firefighters make a run to recruit more donors

02 August 2024

The City of Cape Town’s firefighters, along with colleagues from other City directorates, will continue their running streak – this time at the Totalsports Women’s Race, along with DKMS (Deutsche Knochenmarkspenderdatei), to raise awareness of blood cancer and blood disorders and also recruit many more people as stem cell donors.  

The City of Cape Town's firefighters will continue their campaign with DKMS (previously the Sunflower Fund) by hitting the pavement in this year's Totalsports Women's Race which is set to take place on Friday, 9 August 2024.

Firefighters from Goodwood, Sir Lowry's Pass, Milnerton, Lakeside and Kraaifontein will be joined by colleagues from the City's Electricity branch when they line up with several thousand participants on the starting line at the Grand Parade for the 10 kilometre race.

The campaign with DKMS was revived at the beginning of July after a hiatus of a few years. 

'Our firefighters are not only registering and becoming donors, they are literally running to create awareness and encourage more people to join them in saving lives. For many patients with blood cancer and blood disorders, a stem cell transplant is the only hope of cure for many patients. The more donors on the registry, the better chances patients have of finding their genetic twin and receiving a transplant,' said the City's Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, Alderman JP Smith.

'The partnership between DKMS Africa and the City of Cape Town firefighters is a brilliant move to boost awareness and participation in stem cell donation. We are very excited to join the running community and are happy that due to this partnership, many more doors are opening for us to add more donors diagnosed with blood cancers and disorders,' said DKMS Africa Head of Community Engagement and Communications, Palesa Mokomele.

You can get involved through registering as a stem cell donor online at www.dkms-africa.org or for more information, call them on 021 701 0661.

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Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office