Luke is currently recovering from severe JMML after receiving a marrow-transplant last spring. Nicole continues to search for a match to beat Chronic Myeloid Leukemia. Quito lost his courageous five-year-battle with Leukemia in December of 2002. Thanks to a donor, Darius is healthy today!

Welcome to MatchMaker's 6th National Campus and Community Marrow-thon!
Thank you for your interest in this vitally important health issue. The lack of multiracial and minority marrow donors registered to the National Marrow Donor Program Registry (NMDP) is a crippling disadvantage to all people of color. The National Campus Marrow-thon is MatchMaker's exciting recruitment program to register college students as marrow donors. College campuses offer a highly diverse and receptive population. By helping to diversify the National Registry we are giving all patients who need a transplant a better chance at life.

During Spring of 2005, MatchMaker will host its 6th national campus and community marrow-thon with multiracial campus, community and adoptee groups, to register people as potentially life-saving donors. This 6th national Marrow-Thon is dedicated to the African American, Native American and Caucasian Brandon Times who battled Acute Lymphocyctic Leukemia until he passed away 5 days before his 7th birthday on March 17th 2004.

In March 2002, MatchMaker's first National Campus Marrow-thon registered 1,028 new donors through 18 drives with 11 multiracial campus organizations from Seattle to New York. Twenty-four percent of donors during the first Marrow-thon identified as mixed race. In November of 2002, Marrow-thon 2 registered 2,098 people through 48 drives with 30 multiracial campus organizations. Of those registered, 41% percent identified as mixed race; compared to only 1.9% of the 5 million potential donors on the National Registry. In 2003, MatchMaker's partners registered 330 more committed, educated donors to the National Registry! In 2004 MatchMaker partnered with over 300 volunteers representing multiracial and communities of color from California to Pennsylvania. Together, we registered 3,000 new potential donors to the National Registry! Of those registered, 33% identified as mixed race and 78% were people of color!

The Marrow-thon is an excellent opportunity for your organization to become mobilized around a critical community need. As multiracial, people of color and adopted people, we are underrepresented and underserved in the healthcare arena. MatchMaker and Marrow-thon are helping to level the playing field. Furthermore, the Marrow-thon is an excellent activity to motivate your group's current membership, and to gain exposure on campus and in the community to recruit new members!

The links on this website will provide you with information about coordinating a bone marrow drive, the donation process and much more! If your organization is interested in participating in the National Campus and Community Marrow-thon, or would like more information, please call us at (206) 622.7101 or toll-free: (888) 77.MAVIN or email nicki@mavinfoundation.org

Info You Need to Know
• Planning Your Drive!
• Food Donation Letter
• Racial Tabulation Chart
• Marrow-thon #4 Report
• How to become a Partner
• Drive Registration Check-List

Thanks to our student volunteers and partners for their tireless efforts!!