As spring approaches, many things change on campus. Football season gives way to basketball season, swaps give way to formals, and chilly afternoons huddled in the library turn into afternoons on the quad. One thing that never changes is the dedication of college students to changing lives, and just sometimes, those of our own peers.
A new student organization, “Be The Match” is being established at UA this spring. The main goal of Be the Match is to find marrow and cord blood donors to help save people in need of transplants. The problem is that it’s expensive to add someone to the registry to be a donor—it costs around $100 per potential donor. Most people in need of transplants cannot find a donor within their immediate family. Minorities in need of transplants are at a disadvantage as well; in order to become a match with someone you have to have be of similar ethnicities.
Be the Match has changed lives of both donors and recipients. Some of the patients and donors actually decide to meet after the surgeries because they are so thankful for each other.
Rachel Harris, the woman in the know on all things Be The Match at UA, said first they want to raise awareness as many students don’t know how simple helping is. “The goal of Be The Match on Campus at UA will be to host at least one drive and fundraiser each semester in hopes to build the number of potential donors on the registry and to raise awareness,” she said. “Most people aren’t aware of how easy the donation process is.”
Harris is the account executive for Alabama so she runs drives all over the state and is thrilled by the excitement shown at UA for the new club. “There are so many people that can be cured from their disease by a bone marrow transplant,” Harris said. “It is amazing to watch students sign up for the registry and know that they could be the one to save someone’s life. I work with so many patients who are forever grateful for this second chance at life.”
Be The Match has already made a difference on UA’s campus. Gray Lloyd, the director at the Center for Public TV and Radio on campus was diagnosed with rare form of blood cancer. His only hope for survival was to find a donor on Be The Match who could give him marrow transplants. In November, Gray received his life-saving surgery as a result of a stranger’s kindness.
The next life-changing match could be you.
Be on the look out for Be The Match this spring and make a difference not only on campus, but also for a patient somewhere in the world in need.