Rotarians and VCOM students to join for marrow registry drive April 13
VCOM students coordinated the Marrow Registry Drive near their main campus. Rotarians, such as Candi Kelly, managed the stations. Photo courtesy of Peter Thompson
The Rotary clubs of Blacksburg and Christiansburg and the Family Medicine Club of the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine hosted a Bone Marrow Registry Drive in the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center on Dec 12, 2012.
As a result, 60 new members have been added to the Be-the Match marrow registry, including 19 with a minority background. Diversity of the registry members is important: Of the 10 million members on the registry, only 10 percent are Hispanic, 7 percent are African American, and 7 percent are Asian.
Patients with leukemia, lymphoma, sickle cell anemia and other blood-based disorders, diseases and cancers search the Be-the-Match registry daily for a
Sixty VCOM students registered as new members of the Be-the-Match Registry. Photo courtesy of Peter Thompson
marrow match. The more potential donors on the registry, the better each patient’s chance of receiving a life-saving marrow transplant.
Registration is fast and simple. It includes a little paperwork and a simple cheek swab to test tissue typing.
The next drive will be scheduled on Virginia Tech’s main campus on April 11. If you are between the ages of 18 and 44, please consider joining the registry. You could be the cure for a blood cancer patient.
For more information or to donate financially, visit BeTheMatch.org or call 1 (800) MARROW-2, or contact Rebecca Mathis, account executive of community development and recruitment, at 804-380-6036 or Rmathis@nmdp.org.
– Submitted by Peter Thompson
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