The Icla da Silva Foundation

Help me save Jennifer Jones Austin's life.

Jennifer, a senior United Way executive and mother of two young kids, is battling leukemia and needs a bone-marrow transplant. But she hasn't found a suitable matching donor.

That's where you come in.

On any given day, 6,000 people need bone marrow to help battle cancer and other diseases. But tissue donors must be matched to ensure compatibility.

Joining the national bone-marrow registry is as simple as filling out a form and brushing the inside of your cheek with a cotton swab.

Your marrow type then remains in a central data bank in case a person suffering from cancer, sickle cell anemia or other diseases needs a marrow transplant, a simple procedure similar to donating blood.

But not enough people register.

There's a severe shortage of blacks in the national registry - only about 500,000 out of 8 million overall.

That puts Jennifer and other black patients at extreme risk. A marrow match is far more likely within the same racial group, but the low registration level of blacks means 83% of African-Americans seeking a match never get one.

That must change.

Jennifer's family has been organizing drives around the country to get more African-Americans to join the registry during Black History Month.

I met Jennifer's husband, Shawn, when I got swabbed two weeks ago at a drive sponsored by state Sen. Eric Adams (D-Brooklyn) at Medgar Evers College.

"We've done over 70 drives since Dec. 5. We're really trying to make February, Black History Month, a month full of drives," he told me.

Shawn and family members have organized and attended drives in California, Texas and all around New York. Several churches in Brooklyn and Queens are running drives this weekend to get more people into the registry. Details are at www.savejenaustin.com.

About 100 people came to get swabbed the day I did.

"If we get one person, that's one more than we had before," Shawn told me. "Look, we had no idea that there were so few African-Americans in the registry until we fell into this situation, so we're going to make the most of this and make it a national issue."

Time is of the essence. Every day that Jennifer doesn't find a match is a day lost in her fight against cancer.

"She's doing well. She's between chemo treatments," Shawn said. "Her spirits are up and down, as you can imagine."

Many, many people are pulling for Jen, in much the same way the nation fell in love with 6-year-old Jasmina Anema, a wonderfully upbeat child whose battle with cancer persuaded more than 10,000 people to join the registry.

Jasmina managed to find a bone-marrow donor, but tragically ended up losing her battle with leukemia last month.

It doesn't have to be this way. Everyone who joins the registry and persuades a few more people to do the same is increasing the chance of saving countless thousands of lives.

Go spend the 10 minutes it takes to get screened. Better yet, ask your church, block association or PTA to sponsor an event and get hundreds more added to the registry.

You'll be a bona fide hero.