GLENDALE — A series of bone marrow drives will be held throughout Los Angeles this month to help bolster the Armenian Bone Marrow Donor Registry and find a match for a 4-year-old Pennsylvania girl.

The coast-to-coast search for a match for Charlotte Conybear will include the Armenian community in Glendale and beyond.

Charlotte has aplastic anemia, a disorder in which the body's bone marrow doesn't create new blood cells.

She is a quarter Armenian from her mother's side. While Armenians are Caucasian, their genetic make-up is distinctive because they are less likely to marry outside of their ethnic group, said Frieda Jordan, founder and president of the decade-old Armenian Bone Marrow Donor Registry.

Several Armenian churches throughout Philadelphia and Boston held drives, but organizers say the local community may hold the life-saving stem cells needed to replenish Charlotte's bone marrow.

"She could be a poster child for the need for more names in the registry, but she's not going to be our first or last patient," Jordan said. "We have hundreds of patients who are waiting for a compatible match."

So far, there are 50,000 names in the registry but Jordan said more may be added after a drive that was held Wednesday at Glendale Memorial Hospital.

Ellen Conybear said Charlotte was diagnosed with aplastic anemia last year after she and husband Jeff noticed dozens of little bruises on their

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daughter's shins. They thought all those bruises were just from playing. But after a visit to a pediatrician, they were told Charlotte's platelet counts were lower than normal.

A biopsy followed and doctors found that her marrow didn't have as many cells as it should.

"They told us it looks like her bone marrow is failing," Conybear said. "The marrow won't recover without treatment."

The challenge in attracting more people of Armenian descent to register is the same for many other people from varying ethnic backgrounds. There are too many misconceptions, including the fear of major surgery. Registering includes a cheek swab and filling out an application.

If there is a match, the potential donor undergoes a minor procedure to harvest healthy stem cells, Jordan said.

As she waits for a possible match for her daughter, Ellen Conybear said Charlotte is in good spirits.

"She's getting transfusions of platelets at a safe level," she said.

All the drives held for Charlotte may subsequently help other people of Armenian descent around the world who find themselves unexpectedly in need of a stranger's help.

"Somebody will help somebody else," she said.