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Pancake breakfast in honor of Tracy Smith

Tracy Smith, 38, began battling aplastic anemia in 2006. This is a rare disorder that occurs when the body’s bone marrow does not produce enough new blood cells. Smith received a bone marrow transplant to treat her illness in June.

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Publish Date: 10:43AM 11/03/09

A bone marrow transplant costs approximately $300,000, and that’s only the beginning. Even with health coverage, Smith faces significant expenses related to her transplant. She will need follow-up care and medications to ensure her body accepts the new bone marrow. Because this illness has taken a toll on her body, Smith was forced to leave her job, adding to her financial strain. To overcome these financial challenges, Smith turned to the National Foundation for Transplants (NFT) for assistance. NFT is a nonprofit organization that helps transplant patients raise funds to pay for medical expenses. Volunteers are planning a pancake breakfast to help with her expenses. The all-you-can-eat breakfast will take place Saturday, Nov. 14 at First Assembly of God, 4701 Summerlin Road, at 7 a.m. Tickets cost $5. The event will include activities for children. For more information, please contact Colleen Marinello at colleenmarinello@ymail.com or 239-470-2400. To make donations in honor of Smith, please visit www.transplants.org and click on “patients we help” to search for her. If you prefer to mail your contribution, please send your gift to the NFT Florida Bone Marrow Fund, 5350 Poplar Avenue, Suite 430, Memphis, TN 38119. Be sure to write “in honor of Tracy Smith” in the subject line. About NFT NFT is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization based in Memphis, Tenn. that has been helping transplant patients overcome financial obstacles since 1983. NFT provides fundraising expertise and advocacy to transplant patients by organizing fundraising campaigns in the patients’ own communities. In the past 26 years, NFT’s fundraising campaigns have generated nearly $56 million to assist patients. NFT currently assists more than 800 transplant candidates and recipients nationwide. For more information about NFT, please call 800-489-3863 or visit www.transplants.org. ###