Red Rocks Amphitheatre Gives Concert Goers a Chance to Save Lives

Red Rocks Amphitheatre'ss summer concert calendar for 2009 will have one major difference from previous years - concert goers will have the opportunity to save someone'ss life at every show this season. The Love Hope Strength Foundation (LHS), an international charity dedicated to fighting cancer through the power of music is teaming up with world renowned venue, Red Rocks Amphitheatre and the world'ss largest bone marrow donor center, DKMS to host one of the most comprehensive, concerted bone marrow registration drives in history. The effort is supported by Visa Inc.

Last year with a limited effort at just a handful of concerts, similar LHS drives resulted in more than 1,000 donors registering and twelve potential donor matches being identified. The drive will take place on the top plaza at legendary Red Rocks Amphitheatre all summer long.

We are thrilled at the opportunity to host the Love Hope Strength Foundation'ss bone marrow registration drive at Red Rocks this summer, said Erik Dyce, Chief Marketing Officer for Denver'ss Division of Theatres and Arenas. Love Hope Strength located four matches at just one show last summer; imagine how many lives we can save over the course of an entire summer concert season at Red Rocks!

Every year, thousands of men, women and children are in search of a bone marrow donor who can make their transplant possible. Currently, only 3 out of 10 patients will receive the transplant that could save their life. Through this partnership, DKMS hopes to add donors of all ethnicities to the national registry so more hope can be given to patients who are in need of a bone marrow transplant, stated Katharina Harf, EVP, DKMS Americas. The more donors who register, the more lives can be saved.

Part of the problem is that the national Be The Match registry needs more donors, yet people have misperceptions about the bone marrow donation process. The Love Hope Strength Foundation, DKMS and an army of volunteers will be dedicated to resolving these pressing issues on site at over 60 Red Rocks events and many other music festivals this summer, including Bonnaroo and the Westword Music Showcase in Denver. In what only takes a few minutes as a first step in potentially saving a life, concert-goers can give a cheek swab, complete a registration form and be entered to the national registry. In addition, participants willing to make a monetary donation to help DKMS off-set the registration costs with their Visa credit or debit card will be entered to win special prizes such as a meet and greet with a band, Southwest Airlines flights, an acoustic Epiphone guitar, and custom apparel.

The rock 'sn's roll cancer charity is gaining the support of musicians playing at Red Rocks this summer to create a series of public service announcements that will increase awareness at the venue and around the world. To kick off the initiative, Grammy's212; award winning musicians and stars of the hit HBO comedy, Flight of the Conchords, have done the first video message which can be seen at www.lovehopestrength.org.

I am living proof that the bone marrow registry is a life-saver and I know first hand how hard it can be to find a match due to low numbers in the registry, said leukemia survivor and LHS co-founder James Chippendale. This is a great example of organizations like Visa and Red Rocks coming together to make a huge life-saving difference and meet these very real challenges head-on.

> Learn more about the bone marrow donation process: http://www.dkmsamericas.org/category/marrow-donors/donation-process

> Learn more about the commitment: http://www.dkmsamericas.org/category/marrow-donors/become-marrow-donor/understand-your-commitment

> Learn more about the the medical eligibility requirements: http://www.dkmsamericas.org/category/bone-marrow-donors/become-marrow-donor/eligibility

Red Rocks Amphitheatre - a naturally-occurring outdoor concert venue located 15 miles west of Denver in 868-acre Red Rocks Park - hosts a tremendous variety of musical talent every summer, ranging from established touring powerhouses to some of the hottest up-and-coming performers. Highlights of the 2009 concert season include Leonard Cohen, David Byrne, Phish, Kings of Leon, Death Cab For Cutie, Snoop Dogg, Depeche Mode, O.A.R., 311, The Killers, The Allman Brothers Band, the 10th annual Film on the Rocks series, and much more.

For press ready photos, visit the media room at www.redrocksonline.com.

and more available upon request

About the Love Hope Strength Foundation

With headquarters in Denver and chapters in Texas, the United Kingdom, Peru, and Australia, LHS brings critical funding, material support and awareness to cancer initiatives worldwide. LHS has traveled the globe to Mt. Everest, the Empire State Building, Mt. Snowdon, and Machu Picchu, Peru, using the universal language of music to purchase life saving equipment, spread awareness, promote early detection, and register people to the international bone marrow database. Co-founded by cancer survivors James Chippendale, CEO of CSI Entertainment Insurance, and Mike Peters, frontman of The Alarm; and with the support from legends in rock n's roll and passionate volunteers from around the globe, LHS is making a tangible difference in the fight against cancer.

About Red Rocks Amphitheatre

Owned and operated by the City and County of Denver'ss Division of Theatres and Arenas, Red Rocks Amphitheatre is consistently ranked as one of the world'ss foremost concert venues and is a storied stop for celebrated artists such as The Beatles, U2, Tom Petty, Widespread Panic, Bonnie Raitt and Ray Charles. The acoustically perfect amphitheatre has also hosts opera legends, performances of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and the annual Film on the Rocks series. The venue'ss 9,450 seats are flanked on either side by striking 400-foot-high red sandstone monoliths. Featuring hiking and biking trails, picnic areas, daily tours, a Visitor Center, the popular restaurant Ship Rock Grille and an official Colorado Welcome Center, Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre is a favorite attraction for locals and tourists interested in the natural, geological and musical history of the site. Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre is open year-round to hikers, cyclists and sightseers and sees more 1.2 million visitors annually.

About DKMS

DKMS began in Germany with the mission of one man. In 1990, Peter Harf was desperate to find a donor for his wife Mechtild, who was diagnosed with acute leukemia. The search seemed hopeless because, at the time, there were only 3,000 unrelated donors available in Germany. He worked tirelessly gathering friends, family and volunteers to organize donor drives, successfully recruiting more than 65,000 donors in one year.

DKMS or Deutsche Knochenmarkspenderdatei (German Bone Marrow Donor Center in English) was officially founded in 1991 by Peter Harf and his wife'ss physician, Dr. Gerhard Ehninger. Their goal was simple: to build a major bone marrow donor center to help leukemia patients worldwide find their life-saving match. Today, DKMS is the largest bone marrow donor center in the world with more nearly 2 million registered donors. Since its founding, DKMS has facilitated over 17,000 transplants.

In 2004, DKMS opened an office in New York City to diversify its donor pool, by registering more bone marrow donors in the U.S. Since 2006, DKMS has registered more than 65,000 donors, which allowed more than 100 patients to receive a life-saving transplant.

For more information about DKMS visit http://www.dkmsamericas.org/

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