Help find a bone marrow donor for Amit Gupta, startup entrepreneur with Philly ties

This weekend at BarCamp Philly, a group of individuals will be encouraging participants to take a swab test that will be submitted to the national registry of bone marrow donors in an effort to save a friend in San Francisco.

It’s a story of the power and persuasiveness of social media and of an entrepreneur and friend that has strong, tangential and real ties to Philadelphia.
When Amit Gupta, the founder of Photojojo, a marketplace for photography gifts and accessories, was diagnosed with Acute Leukemia this summer, it was tough on Susan Buck, who freelances for the small company from Philadelphia, and is helping plan the BarCamp drive.
“Amit has been my mentor these past 5 years. He’s touched my life and so many others,” Buck says. “It was a shock to the company because he is the backbone of it.”
What’s worse is that though odds for finding a matching bone marrow donor for caucasians are as high as 8 in 10, it’s more difficult for minorities like Gupta, who is of South Asian descent, to find a match.
He faces a one in 20,000 chance of finding a bone marrow donor.

That in mind, a community has coalesced around Gupta to encourage anyone to submit to bone marrow testing, to help increase Gupta’s chance for success and to support the national registry for anyone seeking a donor.
So far, the message has reached far and wide, but there’s more that can be done.

TechCrunch, BoingBoing and Seth Godin each published articles about Gupta’s difficult story, and as a result, more than $30,000 has been raised for the cause.
People that submit a bone marrow test to the National Marrow Donor Program are also tweeting their participation with the hashtag #ISwabbedforAmit.
More from marrow.org on joining the bone marrow registry
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On Saturday afternoon, Buck — who also co-founded WebStartWomen — will be helping BarCamp Philly attendees fill out paperwork and take a swab test that can be submitted to the registry. The group is also seeking donations for the kits, which cost $100 each but are provided by marrow.org. The organization asks online that individuals make donations in addition to submitting their test kit.
Buck is also seeking volunteers for the effort. Interested individuals can email her here.
Though based in San Francisco, Amit left another notable mark on Philadelphia.
In 2006, Amit started Jelly, a movement that helped spark the concept of coworking by inviting freelancers that lacked an office to work at one another’s homes, in order to foster a collaborative environment.
Without Amit’s “Jelly” concept, Alex Hillman says Old City coworking facility Independents Hall might not have existed.
“Apart from being a friend, it was Amit’s “Jelly” event that let IndyHall get it’s start. If it hadn’t been for jelly, or Amit, there might not be an IndyHall,” Hillman, Independents Hall co-founder, said in an email.
Join the registry online here.
Donate to National Marrow Donor Program here.
Email Susan Buck to get involved with Saturday’s event.
For more information, visit AmitGuptaNeedsYou.com.