The family of 2-year-old Southern California girl with a rare form of cancer is desperately searching for a bone marrow donor after her father turned out not to be a match.

The odds of finding a match for Sofia Flores -- whose rare form of leukemia affects only 1 percent of children -- are already slim, and her mixed-race ethnicity is making it even more difficult to find a compatible donor.

In January, doctors harvested marrow from her father Ignacio, but the procedure did not work.

According to Be The Match, the operator of the world’s largest most diverse marrow registry, about only one in every 500 of its 11 million members goes on to donate to a patient.

“Only about 4 percent of registered donors are mixed-race,” said Sara Arroyo, outreach and recruitment coordinator for A3M, a local recruitment center for Be The Match. “Sofia is half Caucasian and half Latina, so we are looking at those populations to try and find a match.”

Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) types, which are used to make matches, are more commonly found in people with the same racial or ethnic background.

The toddler’s best chance of finding a donor is with someone who shares a similar ancestry, but even her father's marrow did not match. According to A3M, only 30 percent of patients find a matching donor within their families.

“She is in dire need,” Arroyo said. “She is starting the first of her next two rounds of chemotherapy and after that she’ll be ready for another transplant. So far no one in the registry is compatible.”

Since no match has been found for Sofia, her family has partnered with A3M to host upcoming recruitment drives:

Saturday, March 15, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The Mill Restaurant

24690 Washington Ave.

Murietta, CA 92562



The Mill Restaurant 24690 Washington Ave. Murietta, CA 92562 Saturday, March 15, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Orchard Supply Hardware

3425 E. Colorado Blvd.

Pasadena, CA 91107



Orchard Supply Hardware 3425 E. Colorado Blvd. Pasadena, CA 91107 Sunday, March 16, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.

El Patron Express Drive at Super King Plaza

2234 Lincoln Ave.

Altadena, CA 91101



El Patron Express Drive at Super King Plaza 2234 Lincoln Ave. Altadena, CA 91101 Saturday, March 22, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Children's Hospital Los Angeles

4650 Sunset Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90027



Children's Hospital Los Angeles 4650 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90027 Sunday, March 23, Time: TBA

Club Real Madrid Viewing Party

Location: TBA



Club Real Madrid Viewing Party Location: TBA Thursday, March 27, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

One World Trade Center

Long Beach, CA 90831

Registering to donate is noninvasive and only takes a swab of saliva to determine a match. To be a volunteer donor, A3M requires that you be between the ages of 18 and 44 and be willing to help any patient.

If you are unable to make it to one of the drives in person, you can join the registry here.