Be The Match Drive

The Be the Match program is the national marrow donor registry for the United States. The goal is to find matches for patients who have been diagnosed with any type of blood cancer or disease with no other chance of survival. Most of the time if someone is matched it will be a stem cell donation which is done by a blood donation. The only time it is a bone marrow donation is if a person matches with a baby or young child. Alpha Tau Sigma, the LSU Athletic Training Student organization, worked with Be the Match in a four day drive on LSU's campus to try to find people to be part of this registry. This drive was for a competition against other SEC Athletic Training programs to see who could get the most new members on the registry by the end of the semester. Georgia Dewey, a 2nd year LSU Athletic Training Student said, "Through Alpha Tau Sigma's efforts, 488 people were added to the national bone marrow registry this semester. Everyone really came together for the 4 day drive in Free Speech Alley. Almost every member came out and worked for at least one shift. We were thrilled at the success that we had." In the end, LSU tied with South Carolina for 1st in the drive. Congratulations to the LSU Athletic Training Program!