A Swab Drive with Be The Match® Bone Marrow Registry

A Swab Drive with Be The Match® Bone Marrow Registry will be held at the Main Library on Saturday, October 15, from 12-4:30pm. This event is open to the public. If you are between the ages of 18-44 and in good general health please consider joining the registry.

Becoming a member of the Be The Match Registry® is fast and easy. You will be asked to complete a registration form with contact information, health information and a signed agreement to join the Be The Match Registry. To help you complete the form, bring along:

• Personal identification (such as a driver's license or passport)
• Contact information for two family members or friends who would know how to reach you in the future if your contact information changes.

Then you will give a swab of cheek cells. They will use the results to match you to patients. Approximately one bone marrow registrant in 430 go on to donate.

If you are between the ages of 45 and 60, you will not be able to join the registry at this event. You must join the registry online. You will be asked to make a $100 payment to cover the cost to join. Decades of research has shown that younger donors are best for patients because they provide the greatest chance for transplant success. Doctors also request donors in the 18-44 age group more than 95 percent of the time.

When you join the Be The Match Registry®, you become part of every patient's search for a bone marrow donor. Thousands of patients with blood cancers like leukemia and lymphoma, sickle cell and other life-threatening diseases need a bone marrow transplant. You could be the one to save a life.

Be The Match® is a global leader in bone marrow transplantation. For the past 25 years Be The Match ®, operated by the National Marrow Donor Program ® (NMDP), has managed the largest and most diverse marrow registry in the world. They work every day to save lives through transplant.
Find out more about them @ https://bethematch.org/