Bone Marrow Registry Drive at Southeast Hospital

Help save a life by joining the Be the Match Registry®, the national registry of bone marrow donors.

The Cape Girardeau County Area Medical Society Alliance will hold a bone marrow registry drive on Friday, March 30, from 1 to 7 p.m. in the Harrison Room at Southeast Hospital. No appointment is needed.

The entire process takes about 15 minutes and includes four cheek swabs. "There is nothing invasive at all," says Denise Salmon of Cape Girardeau, who chairs the Alliance's bone marrow registry drive.

To join the registry, you must be between the ages of 18 and 60, be willing to donate to any patient in need and meet a few simple health guidelines.

"When you join, you join for life," Salmon explains. "You may never be called, but you also may be the only one on the registry who can save a particular person's life." On average, one in every 540 members on the national registry will go on to donate bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cells to a patient.

Patients need donors who are a genetic match. Donors with diverse race or ethnic backgrounds are particularly needed.

Seventy percent of patients depend on the Be the Match Registry to find an unrelated bone marrow donor. Says Salmon, "The registry saves a lot of lives."

Want to help?

Call 573-334-8268 to learn more about a bone marrow registry drive, scheduled for Friday, March 30, at Southeast Hospital.