ODU Football Gets in the Game to Save Lives with Bone Marrow Registry Drive

ODU Football is sponsoring its third annual Bone Marrow Donor Program Registry Drive from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday, April 25, in the Hampton/Newport News Room of Webb Center.

Potential donors will be asked to complete a registration form, including contact information and health history, and sign an agreement to join the registry. A simple swab of cheek cells will be used to collect tissue types for testing.

ODU Football is helping champion this event on campus as part of a Colonial Athletic Association-wide effort to increase bone marrow registrants. Since 2009, 471 volunteers have registered. Last year, two registrants at other CAA schools were identified as matches and are helping to save lives.

Every day the National Marrow Donor Program Registry is searched to find matches for more than 6,000 men, women and children desperately waiting for transplants. Donors with diverse racial or ethnic backgrounds are especially needed.

To register or to volunteer send an email to jbarrow@odu.edu.