Cintas Partner Makes Sacrifices to Help a Stranger

A Cintas Stockroom Supervisor showed the spirit of the holidays as she gave up time with her family at Christmas to donate her bone marrow to a dying leukemia patient. The bone marrow donation process is painful, and recovery can take up to a month, but Nicholle Fossati, Stockroom Supervisor in Jacksonville, was willing to make sacrifices for someone she had never met.

To donate, Nicholle flew to New York on December 19 to undergo the days-long donation process before returning home on Christmas Eve. Nicholle did not know the recipient – only that she was a 51-year-old woman dying of leukemia. Nicholle did, however, understand the donation process. It was something she wanted to do for a long time.

Recovery can take two weeks to a month, but Nicholle returned to work the following Monday, December 29. At work, Nicholle didn't talk much about what she had done and did not care to have any recognition. Even if she was in pain after the process, she did not let on to anyone and always insisted that she was "doing great!"

Nicholle was training for the Disney Marathon at the time and had a goal to break 3 hours. However, when the opportunity to donate came her way, she gave up her training so that she could help someone else who desperately needed it. She still ran the race and completed the marathon with very little training after her recovery.

Nicholle, a Cintas Partner since June 2008, is a Naval Academy graduate and former Naval officer prior to joining Cintas. She is currently working on her MBA from the University of Florida and recently was promoted to Office Manager at her location.

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