Bone Marrow Donor Drive Feb. 12

Be the Match Registry will host a donor drive for students, faculty and staff Feb. 12 in the South Lounge.

Be the Match is a worldwide registry that connects potential bone marrow donors to patients with life threatening blood cancers like leukemia, lymphoma and sickle cell anemia. It facilitates 5,500 life saving transplants a year.

Be The Match representatives will be on campus 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Feb. 12 registering potential donors in the South Lounge of University Center. Registering takes about 10 minutes and involves filling out a medical questionnaire and providing a cheek swab.

Participants who are deemed eligible will be added to the Be the Match Registry, a searchable database accessible to doctors around the world. Since patients with life threatening blood disorders require a genetic match, the need for bone marrow donors is acute and ongoing. If a doctor selects you as a match for their patient, you may be asked to donate bone marrow or cells from circulating blood.

Donors between the ages of 18 and 44 and from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds are especially needed.

To learn more, visit bethematch.org.