Nelly News

(7/25/03, 6 p.m. ET) -- Rap superstar Nelly will be in New York on Saturday (July 26), continuing his Jes Us 4 Jackie nation-wide donor drive for patients in need of bone marrow transplants. The rapper held similar drives in St. Louis and Los Angeles in June and more than 1200 people signed up with the National Marrow Donor Program Registry. Nelly's 4 Sho 4 Kids Foundation will sponsor the cost of the tests required to join the registry as well as the educational materials for all potential donors.

The donor drive will take place from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the 369th Armory which is located at 2366 5th Avenue at 143rd Street in Manhattan.

Nelly and his 30-year-old sister, Jacqueline "Jackie" Donahue, who is in immediate need of a bone marrow transplant, started the Jes Us 4 Jackie initiative. Jackie was initially diagnosed with leukemia in 2001 but the disease went into remission for two years before she experienced a relapse in January 2003. Her doctors informed her at the time she would need a bone marrow transplant.

Nelly said in a statement that he's committed to the effort even if a donor is found for Jackie. He said, "If we did that would be terrific, if we didn't, hopefully we may have helped others and we will continue to search to find one for Jackie. This is bigger than just us; it's about getting more people on the registry."

For more information or to make a monetary contribution, please visit jesus4jackie.com or marrow.org.

In related news, Nelly's Up Close & Personal tour hits New York City's Radio City Music Hall on Friday (July 25). In addition, the rapper's feature film debut Snipes, which was released straight-to-video, will be broadcast on VH-1 on Sunday (July 27) at 9 p.m. ET. The film which is about an up-and-coming rapper also stars Zoe Saldana, Erik Triggs, and Sam Jones III.

For more news at LAUNCH, click here.