KiKi Shepard was known for "Baywatch," "A Different World," and "Showtime at the Apollo," which filmed at Harlem's famous Apollo Theater.
Yvette Miller with the Red Cross said it is blood donations made every day that help sickle cell patients live normal lives.
Kingswood Magnet Elementary instructional assistant Claudia Behm and teachers have been making gnomes to raise money for 13-year-old former student Alexis Medina Lopez and his care. He has sickle cell anemia and is getting a bone-marrow transplant Thursday.
It's also being checked out as a possible alternative to gene therapy for intractable conditions such as sickle cell disease.
CHANGING DNA TO SAVE LIVES: A treatment about to be tested in California holds the promise of possibly curing a debilitating disease that disproportionately affects the African American community -- sickle cell disease.