NELLY - NELLY LEADS DONATION CAMPAIGN

Rap superstar NELLY spearheading a crusade to encourage minorities to become bone-marrow donors.

On Saturday (21JUN03) in his hometown of St. Louis, the HOT IN HERRE rapper appeared at an event to enrol minority participants in America's NATIONAL BONE MARROW REGISTRY.

Sponsored by his 4 SHO 4 KIDS nonprofit organization, Nelly's campaign is named after his sister JACKIE, who suffers from leukaemia and is depending on a bone-marrow transplant for survival.

The JES US 4 JACKIE events over the weekend in St. Louis and Los Angeles brought in about 1,200 new registrants, a heavy percentage of whom are black. There are currently 4 million Americans listed in the National Bone Marrow Registry, and fewer than 400,000 of those are black. Bone-marrow matching goes beyond blood type, and a recipient will have the most success with marrow from a donor of a similar ethnic makeup.

The more ethnically mixed a recipient is, the more difficult it will be to find a suitable donor, which was why the Jes Us 4 Jackie event encouraged all minorities to register.

JACKIE DONAHUE, 30, was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2001. Registrants on Saturday included ASHLEY DONAHUE, Nelly's 20-year-old sister, and Nelly himself.