Four Ways to Honor the Life of Olivia Gaines

My daughter, Olivia Gaines, died on June 13, 2026 at City of Hope’s Helford Hospital. Many people have asked our family how they can honor Olivia’s life and ten-plus year struggle with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) and chronic Graft-Versus-Host Disease (cGVHD).

#1 - Donate Whole Blood - The entire process will take about one hour of your time, with the actual draw taking 6 to 10 minutes. Olivia was very passionate about people taking the time to give whole blood donations because of the number of Red Blood Cell and Platelet transfusions that she needed to keep her alive from 2015 to 2026. Here’s Olivia expressing gratitude for the “LIV Inspired Blood Drive Event” that was conducted at Kalamazoo College in 2016:

“Thank you for taking time to be like the countless strangers who’ve saved my life.” 

Roughly 62% of the United States population is eligible to give blood, but only 3% of the people who are eligible to donate blood actually do it. But at some time in life, nearly half of us will need a blood transfusion. In fact, someone needs blood every 2 seconds. A single whole-blood donation can save up to three lives because the blood is eventually separated into three distinct components (Red Blood Cells, Plasma, and Platelets).  One can donate whole blood every two months (56 days). 

"What Happens to Donated Blood:" 

#2 - Donate Platelets - Why Platelets? Olivia needed a lot of Platelet transfusions when she was initially diagnosed with AML.  Platelets are tiny cells that form in your bone marrow that help to prevent or stop bleeding. 

Platelet transfusions are necessary for leukemia patients because the disease and its treatments (chemotherapy, radiation, stem cell transplant) destroy the body’s ability to produce platelets, putting patients at a high risk for deadly internal bleeding. Platelet transfusion also help to support patients with bleeding disorders and those undergoing open-heart surgery and organ transplantation. 

Platelet donations are a more involved process than donating whole blood. Greater time commitment and requires an apheresis machine, which is “a specialized medical device used to separate whole blood into its components - plasma, platelets, white blood cells, and red blood cells - collecting the targeted part and returning the remaining blood back to the body.”  You’re not going to find an apheresis machine at a temporary location where an organization is holding a mobile blood drive. You will find apheresis machines at American Red Cross regional blood donation centers and hospitals’ Blood Donor Centers like City of Hope, UCLA Health and Cedars-Sinai.

One can safely donate platelets every seven days, up to a maximum of 24 times a year. 

#3 - Join NMDP (National Bone Marrow Donor Program),

Olivia's Stem Cell Birthday - 4/6/16

finding cures and saving lives through cell therapy. Cell Therapy, meaning allogeneic (donor) Stem Cell Transplants being performed around 80-90% of the time and Bone Marrow Transplants the other 10-20%. NMDP only registers young adults from the ages of 18-35 years old because “research shows blood stem cells from younger donors give patients their best chance at transplant success and surviving long term.” “Doctors request donors ages 18-35 nearly 80% of the time.” “Once registered, you’ll stay listed as a potential donor for patients until you’re 61, unless you ask to be removed.” Note that Olivia’s donor in 2016 was a 42 year old male. 

If you’re over 35 years old, DKMS and Gift of Life Marrow Registry will allow you to register. DKMS registers individuals who "are between the ages of 18 and 55 years old and in general good health."  Gift of Life will “ask you to send $60 to cover the expense of processing your swab kit.” Like NMDP, you’ll stay listed on DKMS and the Gift of Life registry as a potential donor for patients until you’re 61. You only need to register with one agency to be available for searches worldwide. 

Blood Cancer United Facts:

• Every 3 minutes one person in the United States is diagnosed with a blood cancer. An estimated combined total of 192,070 people in the US were expected to be diagnosed with leukemia, lymphoma, or myeloma in 2025. 
• New cases of leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma were expected to account for 9.4% of the estimated 2,041,910 new cancer cases that were diagnosed in the US in 2025.
• Approximately 70% of patients don't have a fully matched donor in their family, and therefore rely on an unrelated donor.

"Nationally, people of color are underrepresented on the bone marrow donor registry, which means they have a harder time finding a donor and have worse health outcomes than people of European ancestry."

• A patient's chance of finding a matched, available donor on NMDP registry ranges from 29% to 79% depending on the patient's ethnic background.
• African-American patients have a 29% chance of finding a donor match.
• Asian or Pacific Islander patients have a 47% chance of finding a donor match.
• Hispanic or Latino patients have a 48% chance of finding a donor match.
• Native American patients have a 60% chance of finding a donor match.
• White patients have a 79% chance of finding a donor match. 

               Why Ancestry Matters

                                                                                                  Color the Registry: Genau's Story

#4 - Give in memory of Olivia Gaines to City of Hope or any other organization that contributed to Olivia's well being during her life.  People have made memorial contributions in Olivia's name to Flintridge Preparatory School and Cancer Support Community Greater San Gabriel Valley. If you decide to make a philanthropic gift in honor of Olivia to City of Hope with a check, “indicate on the memo line or accompanying note that your gift is IN MEMORY OF OLIVIA GAINES” and mail it to City of Hope, Attn: Philanthropy: McQuhae, 1500 East Duarte Road, Duarte, CA 91010.  Click on this link https://ourhope.cityofhope.org/campaign/813724/donate if you want to donate using a credit/debit card. 

Why donate to City of Hope? Because we trust the vision and brilliance of Olivia's primary care hematologist-oncologist and leukemia expert, Dr. Guido Marcucci.   Dr. Marcucci is both physician and scientist, who navigates "the intersection of laboratory research and clinical care every day." Donations made in the memory of Olivia will be directed to the research efforts that Dr. Marcucci leads in his role as Director for the Gehr Family Center for Leukemia Research." Dr. Marcucci also serves as chief of the Division of Leukemia and is the chair of the Department of Hematologic Malignancies Translational Science." 

One of the fundamental questions that Dr. Marcucci prioritizes in his role as a scientist is "what events initiate cancer," and he believes "that leukemia can be uses as a model to answer these questions." He thinks of acute myeloid leukemia as the "prototype of cancer and how cancer develops," which makes it a prime target for intensive research, and the focus of his research. 

I asked Kevin Kate McQuhae, Senior Executive Director - Office of Philanthropy, to summarize why people should donate to support Dr. Marcucci's work:

At City of Hope, our leukemia researchers and physicians are working urgently to change what this diagnosis means for patients and families. Under the leadership of Dr. Marcucci and the Gehr Family Center for Leukemia Research, teams are focused on developing more precise, less toxic, and ultimately curative therapies for leukemia. Their work is especially centered on understanding and eliminating the root causes of the disease - including stem cells, which can drive relapse. 

What gives many families hope is that these discoveries are not theoretical - they are actively being translated into clinical trials, bringing new options to patients who need them now.

More broadly, City of Hope is one of the nation's leading cancer centers, known for advancing innovations like CAR T cell therapy and performing more than 20,000 bone marrow transplants - one of the largest programs in the country.

Discoveries made here reach far beyond our campus, benefiting millions of people each year and helping to bring new treatments forward faster through a unique "bench-to-bedside approach." 

"Surely your goodness and love will follow me all
the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house
of the Lord forever." Psalm 23:6