Patrick Pedraja, 13, Palm Harbor (Tampa), FL

Patrick Pedraja is being recognized for his efforts to increase awareness about the need for bone marrow donors – especially within minority communities. In the summer of 2007, he started a national marrow donor drive called DRIVING FOR DONORS. In a novel approach to raising money to fund tissue typing which was needed to add people to the registry, Pat sold ad space on his bald head and raised more than $150,000. To enlist new donors he visited 32 cities and added 6500 new donors in just 3 months. Pat was diagnosed with leukemia at the age of 10 and is currently undergoing 3.5 years of chemotherapy.