Why the ‘voice’ of Benny the Bull wants to spread the word about stem cell donations

CHICAGO — Ransom Hatch skipped breakfast one morning in 2013 when he was a University of Washington student, so the free granola bars drew him to the registration drive DKMS was holding on campus.

Hatch didn’t know anything about the nonprofit organization that aims to fight blood cancer by registering people to be potential blood stem cell donors and helping facilitate transplants. But it seemed like a cool cause, and the snack was a plus. He swabbed his cheek, gave the sample back to the registrar and received a letter that he was in the donor pool a couple of weeks later.

And then he forgot all about it.

Seven years later, after moving to Chicago to work with Benny the Bull as a Chicago Bulls entertainment assistant, he received a call from DKMS. He was a match for a 43-year-old woman with a blood disease.

“Would you be interested in donating with DKMS to potentially help save a life?” he was asked last spring.

Hatch had a question before he could make