Meet Elizabeth Melachrinoudis | Recruitment Coordinator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Elizabeth Melachrinoudis and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Elizabeth, is there a quote or affirmation that’s meaningful to you?
“Be the change that you wish to see in the world” – Mahatma Gandhi

In 2014, when I was just 16 years old, both of my parents were diagnosed with advanced stage cancers. Over the next four years I watched the strongest people that I knew endure treatment, fight cancer, and ultimately lose their battles. While grief is filled with many emotions, the one that I remembered feeling the strongest was anger. At just 20 years old, I was forced to begin navigating the world alone because of cancer, and that is unacceptable. I took this anger and became an advocate for cancer research and helping to find a cure. For the past 3 years I have fiercely advocated for the education and registration of new marrow and stem cell donors through the National Marrow Donor Program. I now serve as the NMDP Be the Match Recruitment Coordinator for Utah and Colorado, and every day I am working towards the goal of creating a cancer free world. While a marrow or stem cell transplant could not have cured my parents, I know that right now there are families just like mine that are searching for a hero donor for their loved one. What happened to my family is unacceptable, and through my work and advocacy I can help create a world where no teenager has to sit at their parent’s funeral because of cancer.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am blessed to serve as the Be the Match, National Marrow Donor Program Recruitment Coordinator for Utah and Colorado. I began working for Be the Match full-time in July 2021 after 3 years of advocacy working, internships, and volunteering all within the marrow industry. Getting to where I am today was not easy. Before I graduated from the University of South Florida in May 2020, I had watched my both of my parents fight and ultimately lose their battles to cancer. My father passed away from bile-duct cancer in 2015, and my mother passed away just 3 years later from breast cancer in 2018. Despite the incredible toll that losing my parents took on me I was able to graduate with Bachelors degrees in Criminology and Sociology in just four years, and I am now pursuing a Masters of Science in Nonprofit Administration from Louisiana State University. I was blessed to have had the greatest parents in the world, and I know that it is my job to keep their legacy alive. Through my position at Be the Match I am not only given the opportunity to speak about my parents daily, but also to help families just like mine navigate cancer and find their loved one’s cure. Everyday that I work at Be the Match I am helping to create a cancer free world.

The National Marrow Donor Program cures blood cancer through the education and recruitment of new unrelated stem cell and marrow donors. Right now there are approximately 12,000 searching patients that are in need of a transplant that are waiting on someone like me to convince someone like you to register. Joining the registry is as simple as a five minute online registration and a cheek swab, but can help give a searching patient the chance at a lifetime.

If you are interested in joining the registry, text Swab2SaveCO to 61474 today!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
As a native of Port St. Lucie, FL, and a recent transplant to Denver, CO, I like to say “Florida chose me, but I got to choose Colorado”. I am so blessed to live in such a beautiful city and state, stepping outside my door always feels like stepping into a postcard! Whenever my Florida friends come to visit, our first stop is always to get Dutch Bros and head up to Lookout Mountain Park to watch the sunrise or sunset. If you love plants and nature as much as I do, the Denver Botanical Gardens can’t be beat. I am also a huge fan of Blue Pan Pizza, so grabbing a pie and taking it to Washington Park to have a picnic when the weather’s nice is definitely also a must-do.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There are so many people in my life that have contributed to my success. The first people that come to mind are my parents. Something I say a lot is “all for you mom and dad”, and that comes from the lives and deaths of my parents Shirley and Kosta Melachrinoudis. From all that I learned from them growing up to everything that I had to learn after their deaths, I know that I would absolutely not be the person that I am today without their love and guidance. Next, the incredible “bonus family” that I have, the Cunninghams. Since the loss of my parents, the entire family Christina, Ed, Kayleigh, Ivy, and Mallory have stepped up and stepped in to make sure that I feel loved and supported in everything that I do. Thank you is never going to be enough to give back to them for everything that they have given me.

Website: join.bethematch.org/Swab2SaveCO

Instagram: @elizabethmelachrinoudis ; @missstluciecounty

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-melachrinoudis

Twitter: @Melachrinoudis

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elizabeth.melachrinoudis

Other: Text Swab2SaveCO to 61474 to join the marrow registry!