By ERIC TABER
The Grizzly football team will do its part to help save lives this week by rallying the University of Montana campus community to join the National Marrow Donor Program’s Be the Match Registry, which finds potential donors and connects them with patients in need.
The Griz football team will hold the Be the Match registration drive in and around the University Center on the UM campus this Friday, April 26, from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The team will be joined by the UM Spirit Squad and Monte, as well as students from the UM School of Pharmacy to help promote the drive.
During that time the team will don their uniforms and interact with fellow students and campus community members, encouraging them to Get in the Game. Save a Life. and join the registry to potentially become a donor.
Started by former Villanova Head Football Coach Andy Talley and endorsed by the American Football Coaches Association, the Andy Talley Bone Marrow Foundation’s Get in the Game. Save a Life. program will work with more than 80 football and sports teams at colleges and universities across the nation this year to recruit new registry members.
“Grizzly football is proud to support Coach Talley and his goal of using the game of football as a vehicle to help save lives,” said head coach Bobby Hauck.
“This event will be a small way for our student-athletes to give back to the community at large and hopefully make a positive impact on someone’s life.”
The Get in the Game. Save a Life. program raises awareness of the global need for donors and invites students, faculty, staff and the community to join the Be The Match Registry. To sign up as a committed registry member, people need to meet age and health guidelines and be willing to donate to any patient in need.
Registration involves completing a health history form and giving a swab of cheek cells. Those of diverse racial or ethnic heritage are especially needed. Donors and patients who share the same ancestry are most likely to match.
About Be The Match: For people with life-threatening blood cancers—like leukemia and lymphoma—or other diseases, a cure exists. Be The Match connects patients with their donor match for a life-saving marrow or umbilical cord blood transplant. People can contribute to the cure as a member of the Be The Match Registry, financial contributor or volunteer. Be The Match provides patients and their families one-on-one support, education, and guidance before, during and after transplant.
Be The Match is operated by the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP), a nonprofit organization that matches patients with donors, educates health care professionals and conducts research so more lives can be saved. To learn more about the cure, visit BeTheMatch.org or call 1 (800) MARROW-2. For more information on the Andy Talley Bone Marrow Foundation visit talleybonemarrow.org.