March 29, 2024

DMACC and IMDP team up to save lives

The DMACC Newton Student Nursing Club, along with the Iowa Marrow Donor Program, is hosting a bone marrow drive from 2 to 6 p.m. Monday at the Newton Campus. This event is to sign up committed donors to go on the bone marrow registry with just a mouth swab and some paperwork, not actually donate bone marrow.

It is hard to find matches, and about 70 percent of patients don’t have a familial match. For thousands of patients with life-threatening diseases, such as leukemia and lymphoma, a marrow transplant from an unrelated donor is their best or only hope for a cure.

While many patients do find the life-saving match they need each year, more donors are needed to help increase the likelihood that all patients will find a match. For every 540 people who join the bone marrow registry, one will be asked to donate and help save someone’s life.

Healthy donors between the ages of 18-44 are encouraged to join the registry.

You can also register online and have the swab kit sent to your home at Join.BeTheMatch.org/DMACC​.