SMC Partnership with Be the Match Featured By ABC7 and ‘Good Morning America’
The Saint Mary's community is working to add volunteers to the National Bone Marrow Registry. It's one simple way we can help save lives.
"Students as Superheroes"
That's the headline used by ABC this week as the network reported from Saint Mary's on a partnership between the College and Be the Match that seeks to add names to the national bone marrow registry.
Organized by the Be the Match-NorCal chapter and the Be the Match Saint Mary's club, students had a chance to stop by a table on Dante Quad, take a quick swab, and add their name to a list that could one day save a life.
What exactly is Be the Match?
"For patients with blood cancers like leukemia, lymphoma and other life-threatening diseases, a cure exists. Be The Match is a community of donors, volunteers, health care professionals and researchers who deliver cures by helping patients get the life-saving marrow transplant they need," says the organization's website.
The partnership between Be the Match and Saint Mary's earned attention from ABC7 Bay Area as reporter Leslie Brinkley made the trip to campus to document the drive. SMC students Julien Cardenas ’23 and Will Thompson ’24, Gael alum Jennifer Nash '05, and longtime Saint Mary's community member Darlene Bennett all helped tell the story of why this effort matters. For Bennett, who is married to SMC Men's Basketball Coach Randy Bennett, it's deeply personal. While Darlene was growing up, she witnessed her brother pass away from leukemia at the age of six.
Brinkley's story originally aired on ABC7 on Tuesday, February 14. On Thursday, February 16, the story went national. As part of a Good Morning America celebration of the 10-year anniversary of anchor Robin Roberts returning to air after herself finding a match, the story that ran in the Bay Area two days earlier was shared with a national audience.
On Saturday, Saint Mary's Men's Basketball will continue the drive before its game against BYU. Fans can sign up for the registry inside UCU Pavilion prior to the 7 p.m. tip. And, next week, ABC will continue its coverage both locally and nationally with more Saint Mary's stories scheduled to be shared.
Ben Enos is Director of Media Relations at Saint Mary's. Write him.