About the Campaign
A Greater Vancouver campaign built on a single uncomfortable fact: a patient's best chance of a stem cell match usually lies with a donor who shares their ancestry, and the national registry does not yet reflect every community equally.
Our Mission
Why This Campaign Exists
Donors Like Us exists to add donors to the national stem cell registry from the communities currently least represented on it. Not through advertising, but through drives, workshops and conversations held in places people already trust.
The campaign started in 2024 as a single swab table at a community clinic in east Vancouver, run by two health navigators who had each watched a patient wait months for a match that never arrived. By the end of that year it was four tables and a volunteer roster. In 2026 it is a coordinated programme across six partner organisations.
Our method is deliberately unglamorous. We train volunteers properly, we go where people already gather, we explain the difference between a cheek swab and a surgical donation before anyone is asked to decide, and we take no for an answer without pressure. People who register informed are the ones who still answer the phone years later.
We work across Greater Vancouver — Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond, Surrey, Coquitlam, New Westminster and the North Shore — and intend to hand the model, including our training materials, to campaigns in other provinces once it is properly tested.
Our Foundation
Four Pillars
These four pillars guide every aspect of how we work, from the communities we engage to the stories we tell and the partnerships we build.
Increasing Donor Representation
Encouraging more donors from underrepresented communities to register helps improve access to culturally and genetically matched stem cell donors for patients in need. Stem cell compatibility is tied to inherited tissue markers (HLA types) that vary across populations, meaning patients are more likely to find a match within their own communities. Every new registrant matters.
Community-Led Awareness & Education
The campaign focuses on sharing accessible, culturally grounded information about stem cell donation through community voices, storytelling, and community engagement. We meet people where they are, led by the communities most affected by underrepresentation, not outside systems speaking for them.
Honouring Reciprocity & Collective Care
A registry is insurance a community buys for itself. Most registered donors are never called. The few who are may be the only compatible match in the country for a stranger who shares their heritage — which is why the people we recruit are asked to think of this as a commitment, not a gesture.
Building Trust Through Collaboration
The campaign works alongside community organizations, students, and healthcare partners to promote culturally safe and respectful outreach. Trust is built over time, through relationship, accountability, and consistent presence. Not one-time events or extractive engagement.
Take Action
Be Part of the Change
Register as a donor, staff a table, host a drive at your workplace, or just tell someone in the 17-35 range what you have read here. All four of those move the number.