Lipscomb students launch drive for leukemia patient
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Lipscomb University public relations students will put their talents to work in a fund raising campaign March 11-14 for Kevin Bolt, the 10-year-old leukemia victim from Franklin, Tenn., who needs a bone marrow transplant.
Nineteen hundred people generously gave blood last month to see if they could be a bone marrow match for Kevin and add their names to the National Bone Marrow Registry. As blood donations for Kevin increase, so does the family's financial liability. It costs $70 to test each of the desperately needed blood samples, a cost that is not covered by insurance. The family's expenses are now more than $128,000, said Dr. Ken Schott, professor of communication at Lipscomb.
The Lipscomb chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America was looking for a worthwhile cause to support this spring when it learned about Kevin, said chapter president Chelsey Shults, a senior public relations major from Nashville.
"From the moment I first heard of Kevin and saw his web site, I knew we had to get involved. Lipscomb students have big hearts, especially when a child is in need," Shults said.
The campaign will begin March 11 at 10 a.m. in Allen Arena, when Kevin and his family will be introduced to the 2,000-person chapel assembly. Tuesday through Thursday (March 14), from 10:30 a.m. until 2 p.m. daily, PRSSA members will collect donations inside the main entrance to the Student Center.
Using a St. Patrick's Day theme, everyone who contributes at least a dollar at Lipscomb to Kevin's expenses will have their name written on a shamrock, which will be displayed on the glass windows at the Student Center entrance.
Kevin a fourth-grader at Hunter's Bend Elementary School, is a typical 10-year-old who loves to play foosball, computer games and soccer. Kevin's parents first learned about his illness after he became sick at school and was sent to Vanderbilt Hospital for tests. On Dec. 4 they learned that he had Chronic Myeloid Leukemia.
"We don't know if he's had it for four months or three years, but of the type of leukemia he has, a bone marrow transplant is the only cure," Mark Bolt, Kevin's father, told the Franklin Review-Appeal.
Financial contributions to help cover medical expenses will be accepted at any AmSouth Bank under the Kevin Bolt "Heart of America" Fund. Another bone marrow transplant drive will be held at Laser Chase in Franklin on March 16.