Danny Kim, M.D., a 57-year-old Cook Children’s pediatrician, has been diagnosed with advanced leukemia. He has devoted his life to serving our community, and as he undergoes treatment for cancer, he is in urgent need of a blood stem cell transplant. Dr. Kim has given so much support to our patients and families. Now it’s time for us to support him.

Dr. Kim is a Houston native and a Texan to his core. He has been a beloved board-certified pediatrician in the Dallas area for 26 years. Dr. Kim has served as the Pediatric Department Chairman at both Presbyterian Hospital of Plano and Baylor Carrollton. He is a Fellow of The American Academy of Pediatrics and a Diplomate of The American Board of Pediatrics. Dr. Kim currently lives in Plano with the love of his life and wife of 29 years, Jennifer. 

We are looking for healthy people to undergo oral swab testing—a quick, painless and FREE process that will determine if your blood stem cells are a match for Dr. Kim or another patient in need.

For life-threatening blood disorders like leukemia, a blood stem cell transplant from a matching donor can save a patient’s life.  To find out if you are a match for Dr. Kim or another patient in need, all you need to do is a simple cheek swab. If you are confirmed a match, you will be asked to undergo more detailed testing, at which point you may accept or decline to be a donor.

Grow the Registry with Cook Children's

Cook Children’s is partnered with Be The Match to connect patients like Dr. Kim to a matching blood stem cell donor. We are hosting two donor drive events at our medical centers next week. Drop in to undergo oral swab testing and to join the donor registry. 

Cook Children's Medical Center – Fort Worth 
Wednesday, Nov. 15 from noon to 2 p.m.
908 Southland Ave., Fort Worth, TX, 76104
Across the street from Kids Place
**UPDATED November 13, 2023**

Cook Children's Medical Center – Prosper
Thursday, Nov. 16 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
4100 W. University Drive, Prosper, TX, 75078
Classrooms 1621 and 1622

How to Become a Donor

If you cannot make it to either event, you can still become a donor. To join the Be The Match donor registry, complete the digital form here or text Swab4Kim to 61474. Then, order your swab kit for free online or give samples at any donor registration drive. 

Join the donor registry if you are:

• 18-40 years old
• In good health
• Willing to donate to any patient in need

Ways to Donate 

Peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) donation is the most commonly used method of collecting blood-forming cells. 90% of donors undergo this method, which involves collecting blood stem cells from circulating blood.

• Similar to donating plasma or platelets 
• Non-surgical outpatient process
• Takes 1-2 days to resume a regular routine
• Requires 5 days of shots leading up to donation

Marrow donation is less common and is completed while under general anesthesia. Only 10% of donors undergo this method, during which doctors use a needle to withdraw liquid marrow (where the body’s blood-forming cells are made) from the pelvic bone.

• No pain during donation
• Outpatient procedure
• Takes 2-7 days to resume a normal routine

After your stem cells are collected, they will be infused into the patient in need by IV. Your cells will then help their body create new bone marrow, giving them a crucial chance to beat their disease.

If you have any questions, contact Dr. Kim’s Be The Match representative, Gaytri Kapoor:

• Email: gkapoor2@nmdp.org 
• Phone: 281-780-1379

Our Child Life teams utilize in-kind donations every day, all day. From stocking playrooms, celebrating birthdays, offering comfort, providing distraction, and meeting basic needs, donations are the backbone of serving patients and families.

Back in 2005, I began a Community Relations Internship at Cook Children’s alongside Kat Davitt, who at the time was the Community Relations Specialist. One thing has not changed over all these years: the generosity of the community is paramount to serving patients and families at the medical center. During my internship, I got a front-row seat to the vital role that donations play day in and day out. I also got to see the raw joy donations and gifts brought to patients and families. 

Over time, the job titles, employees that handle donations and departments have changed. Currently, Megan Hodges-Cook is our Community Programs Coordinator within the Child Life Department. She serves in one of the most important jobs within our department – she collects, sorts, and distributes all our donations along with coordinating all our special events for patients and families.

Every day in the Emergency Department, I hand out Legos to the kiddo that just made it through a really difficult procedure or I bring a fidget to the kiddo that just needs something to keep their hands busy.

We hand out stuffed animals, playdoh, crayons and Hot Wheels to normalize the environment that otherwise brings anxiety and fear. Donations change the atmosphere and offer peace and joy amid the hardest moments in a family’s life.

“I’ve seen many patients who just feel awful, and the moment they receive a toy or art project, their demeanor changes,” Hodges-Cook said. “They can begin their physical healing because we have attended to their spirit and soul.”

Cook Children’s provides family-centered care, so donations are not only for patients but also for siblings and other family members. We also utilize donations to celebrate birthdays, holidays, milestones, etc. We have full-blown parties and have even hosted a patient’s wedding in our garden!

One of our donors provides birthday celebration items. Her gifts of wrapping paper, gift bags, streamers, etc. probably touch every patient that celebrates a birthday with us.

Hodges-Cook also shared this story about a donor: “We have a family who brings backpacks once a year in honor of their daughter. A year after receiving a backpack, another family mailed the backpack they received filled with similar items and a note describing how the backpack fulfilled their needs and lifted their spirits when they were in crisis. So the legacy of this little girl has started a domino effect of giving.”

 “Hands down the best part of my job is that I am the only person who gets to witness the joy of the giver (because so many people are joyful in giving), the joy of the receiver when I pass out donations to patients and the joy of the staff who get to share donations with patients and families,” Hodges-Cook said.

Needs

We rely on donations year-round and use them throughout the system including outpatient clinics, urgent cares, neighborhood clinics, and within our therapy settings.

Currently, we receive 70% of our annual donations during December. However, because of this, we have gaps in our needs that often need fulfilling throughout the year. Our gaps include needs for specific age groups or high-demand items that go quickly. Infants and adolescents experience the highest gaps in donations.

• About 25% of our daily population is infants. Items like teethers, rattles, and Wubbanubs/pacifiers are one-time-use items and we often don’t have enough. We also need light-up infant toys regularly.
• Adult-sized items in clothing and adult coloring and activity books are always in short supply for our teens and caregivers.
• We have ongoing needs for clothing sized from Infant to Adult XXLG. We utilize many gender-neutral comfort clothing like sweatpants and t-shirts and underwear regularly to meet the needs of patients and families.
• Our high-demand items include coloring supplies, playdoh, decks of playing cards, sensory items (fidgets, kinetic sand, and slime cups), Hot Wheels cars, Lego kits, toiletries and clothing.

Some things to remember and consider before donating to the hospital:

• Due to the immunosuppressed nature of the patients we serve, we cannot accept used items. This includes any items that are in “like new” condition.
• Out of cultural humility to the diverse population we serve, we cannot accept religious items.
• We cannot accept items that are violent or rated anything higher than E for Everyone (video games) or PG (movies).
• Due to privacy and infectious control reasons, donors are unable to pass donations/gifts directly to patients.
• We ask that all donations are unwrapped so we can best match them to patients.

You are able to give online. You can use this special Christmas in July wish list: https://www.amazon.com/registries/gl/guest-view/2W1H6ULYM5O3L

In Fort Worth, you can bring all donations to the Main Entrance of the hospital located at 801 7^th Ave, Fort Worth, Texas 76104 where you will find a donation bin. For any questions or to schedule a time to bring a larger donation, you may email childlifedonations@cookchildrens.org.

To make a donation at Cook Children's Medical Center - Prosper, email childlifeprosper@cookchildrens.org.

You may also donate to the Cook Children's Health Foundation here and designate your gift to Child Life.

Thank you for your generosity as a community! We are humbled to serve patients and families and recognize that we could not do much of our job without the generosity and kindness of our communities. Please consider donating knowing that you are changing the atmosphere of the medical center, and blessing patients and families immensely!

At the event on Thursday, patients participated in arts and crafts themed around the “You Can Be Anything” Barbies that showcase different occupations and show that children can grow up to be anything they'd like to be.

After hearing about the tragedy, Mattel contacted Varghese Summersett Injury Law Group, which is representing Athena’s mother, Maitlyn Gandy.

Maitlyn and her legal team helped a six-person group from Mattel set up Barbies and toys for the patient event. Afterward, Maitlyn interacted with the patients as they came down to select a toy, have a snack, and complete crafts that focused on the children’s future and goals. 

“This was a special event in memory of my daughter,” Maitlyn said. “I’m grateful for everyone who helped make it happen.”

Nancy Molenda, Executive Director of the Mattel Children’s Foundation, said their purpose is to empower the next generation to explore the wonder of childhood and “reach their full potential.” 

“We are honored to be part of this event and to help bring the power of play to the patients of Cook Children’s,” she said.

“We work alongside one another to keep our community safe, especially for our patients. They do a lot for us throughout the year and this is a great opportunity, just a small gesture, to try to return that favor,” said Kaysey Pollan, director of Emergency Management at Cook Children's. 

Advocating for breastfeeding is a big part of a pediatrician’s job in the first few months of life. We state the benefits of breastfeeding. We encourage families who are struggling and provide help with troubleshooting issues. We point them towards lactation consultants and other resources that can help when things are not going well.

But, is there a point where “breast is not best?”

Does all the conversation about breastfeeding pressure moms to seek out breast milk from other sources when they choose not to breastfeed or when breastfeeding does not work for them?

The answer is: Yes.

Breast milk donation can be used to provide much needed breast milk to premature babies. Many of these babies would otherwise not receive breast milk. This provides an amazing service to a vulnerable population. I strongly encourage moms who are interested and have extra breast milk to look into donating their milk to one of these organizations.

There are other means of exchanging breast milk that I am not as excited about. Families can buy and sell breast milk online via websites that link buyers and sellers (often called “communities” or “societies”).

But, is this method of obtaining breast milk safe?

A recent study showed that out of 102 samples of breast milk bought online, 10 of those samples contained more than 10 percent cow’s milk. This shows that at least some sellers are mixing cow’s milk with their breast milk, most likely to increase volume and income from their breast milk sale.

Why is this dangerous?

It is dangerous because previous studies have shown that 20 percent of online breast milk buyers are buying milk because of a medical condition in their child - many of those are listed as formula intolerance. Introduction of cow’s milk into the breast milk increases the odds that these children could have a reaction or problem with the purchased milk especially if they have a true allergy to cow’s milk.

While this risk is not insignificant, I feel the danger is much greater. I believe that the real danger lies more in the motivation of the sellers. If they are willing to actively deceive buyers by adding cow’s milk, what else are they willing to lie about in order to find a buyer for their milk? Anyone ever thought of why we do not pay blood donors or allow for payment for organ donation? The motivations matter.

Here are some other potential issues with breast milk sold online that you should be aware of:

1. Storage and bacterial contamination

Safe storage of breast milk is not as simple as just throwing it into the freezer. Transportation of sold milk also creates another potential source for unsafe storage. The same group of researchers showed in a previous study that 74 percent of the milk they bought online contained enough bacteria to question their safety for infants.

2. Medications/drugs/alcohol

Many of the sellers’ listings make a point to say that the milk is free of substances or that the donor did not engage in risky behavior. In fact, sellers who made such claims (in addition to claims for clean handling and infectious disease screening) were 6 times more likely to sell their milk than those who did not make those claims. Does this encourage honesty?

3. Infectious diseases

You would hope that donors would be honest about their infectious disease history because many diseases can be transmitted via breast milk. Also, there are some transmitted diseases that the donor may not be aware of at the time they pumped the milk.

Of course, I advocate for breastfeeding for moms who can. But, let’s be real. Formulas have come a long way since the days where it was practically evaporated milk. So, let’s be realistic about the lengths we will go to in order to provide our child breast milk.