ELON, N.C. – The Elon University football team, with the assistance of the women’s soccer program, has joined the CAA Football initiative of Be The Match to help save lives by recruiting potential marrow donors. This year, more than 30 football teams from colleges and universities across the nation are participating in the program to recruit 5,000 new registry members.
Within CAA Football, this initiative has been spearheaded by Villanova head coach Andy Talley. Elon will hold its registration drive on Wednesday, April 20, from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. in McKinnon Hall inside of the Moseley Center.
Said Elon head coach Rich Skrosky, “We are proud to take part in such a great cause and thank Coach Talley for his commitment over the years. Our student-athletes have a platform to do a lot of great things, and I can’t think of a greater cause than saving lives.”
Every three minutes someone is diagnosed with a life-threatening blood cancer. More than 14,000 patients do not have a matching marrow donor within their family. They depend on Be The Match to help find someone to give them hope for a cure.
The Get in the Game. Save A Life. Program raises awareness of this need 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 mostly likely to match.
For 22 years, Villanova’s Talley has been committed to raising awareness of the need for marrow donors and helping patients receive life-saving transplants. He has recruited thousands of potential donors to the registry by encouraging his football players, other students and their peers on other teams to sign up, along with their friends, family and teachers. Last year alone, more than 8,500 people joined the Be The Match Registry through Get in the Game. Save A Life. donor registry drives.
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.