Temple Football to Host Second Annual Bone Marrow Donor Drive on April 15

March 31, 2009

PHILADELPHIA - It's that time of year again-- time for Temple football to take a break from spring drills to help others. The team, in conjunction with Fox Chase Temple, will host its Second Annual Bone Marrow Donor Drive on Wednesday, April 15 at the Temple University's Howard Gittis Student Center (Room 200) from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

After setting the national record by a collegiate team for screening 630 potential donors in 2008, the Owls are looking for new prospects this year to register for the National Marrow Donor Program Registry and be tested.

[Note: If you participated in the screening last year, you're already signed up on the national registry.]

The entire process takes about 20 minutes. It's a quick and painless way to help save lives. The test is a simple cheek swab. No blood or needles are involved.

Participants, who must be between the ages of 18 and 60 to register, will receive free food from Jimmy Johns and door prizes.

"The Temple Football program is honored to partner with Fox Chase Cancer Center once again for the second annual Temple University Marrow Donor Drive here on the University's main campus," head coach Al Golden said. "Our goal is to bring continued awareness to the National Marrow Donor Program and hope to the more than 10,000 children and adults who are stricken with life-threatening disease and desperately need to find a matching donor. On Wednesday, April 15 you can be the answer to their prayers; you can save a life! The Fox Chase Bone Marrow Program has been saving lives for two decades here in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. On behalf of our football student-athletes and Temple Football, I encourage everyone in the Temple University Community to give just 20 minutes of your day on April 15th to be someone's angel and save a life."

On any given day, more than 6,000 men, women and children are searching the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) Registry for a life-saving donor. These patients have leukemia, lymphoma, and other life-threatening diseases that can be treated by a bone marrow or cord blood transplant. For many of these patients, a transplant may be the best and only hope of a cure.

If you are interested in becoming a donor, contact Ryan McNamee at 215-204-0859 or via email football@temple.edu, or simply show up at the Gittis Student Center - Rm. 200 on April 15.

Remember that the next person in need of a transplant could be you, a member of your family or a friend.

Get in the Game. Save a Life.

* * *

Bone Marrow Registry Fast Facts & Flyers in PDF Format

For additional information, visit these websites:

National Marrow Donor Program

NMDP advocates

Fox Chase Temple Bone Marrow Transplant Program