Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Football to Hold Bone Marrow Donor Registry Event April 4
3/28/2016 4:40:00 PM | Football
LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Bucknell football program has announced it will be hosting a spring bone marrow registry drive. The Bison will be supporting the "Get in the Game. Save a Life" campaign sponsored by the National Marrow Donor Program's Be the Match Registry. The event will take place Monday, April 4, from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the Center Room inside the Elaine Langone Center on the Bucknell campus.
The event will help recruit new members for the bone marrow registry. Bucknell faculty, staff and students, as well as area residents, can join the marrow registry on that day and become a potential donor.
The registration is non-invasive and completed with a swab of the inside of the cheek. There is no commitment by the registrants. If a registrant is deemed a match for someone suffering from Leukemia or other life-threatening disease, they will be approached as a potential bone marrow donor.
Bucknell has previously hosted a bone marrow donor registry event in 2009, 2011 and 2012.
“No one on our team, other than members of our coaching staff, has registered previously,” commented Bucknell seventh-year head coach Joe Susan. “We are working to get as many people as possible from the Bucknell Community to register on Monday.
“Our program works to make a difference and this event will enable all of our players to register. It will also allow them to encourage their peers, professors and friends to register as well. We work to teach our players to appreciate the many things that they have and to understand the needs of others.”
Thousands of patients with leukemia and other life-threatening diseases depend on the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) Registry to find a match for a potential life-saving transplant. Donors with diverse racial or ethnic backgrounds are especially critical as patients in need of a transplant are most likely to match someone of their own race or ethnicity.
The NMDP and its Be The Match Foundation are non-profit organizations dedicated to creating an opportunity for all patients to receive the bone marrow or umbilical cord blood transplant they need, when they need it. For more information, please visit BeTheMatch.org.
