Lion King Star Shannon Tavarez Inspired Many, But Black Donors Still Scarce

New York (TheGrio)– Lion King star Shannon Tavarez lost her life and her battle against leukemia last Monday, and will be laid to rest today. Despite her efforts — and those of leukemia patients before her — to increase the number of donors of African descent, there remains a large disparity for African-American cancer patients who cannot find the bone marrow matches that could save their lives.

The disparity is not simply a problem with the number of donors. There were nearly 600,000 African-Americans listed on the Be The Match Registry in 2009 according to the National Marrow Donor Registry. Tavarez’ efforts, along with endorsements from her Lion King co-stars and other celebrities, garnered an additional 10,000 newly registered donors.