National Marrow Donation Program

The National Marrow Donation Program (NMDP), formally known as Be The Match, plays a crucial role in connecting individuals diagnosed with blood cancer or other blood disorders with potential donors who have matching stem cells or bone marrow.

The process of finding a matching donor can be complex due to the unique genetic makeup of each individual. However, NMDP has developed an extensive database of potential donors, making it more likely for patients to find a match.

When a match is found, the donor undergoes a procedure to donate either stem cells or bone marrow, depending on what is most suitable for the patient’s needs. This donation can be a lifesaving opportunity for those battling blood cancer or other disorders, offering them a chance at recovery and a better quality of life.

Our Role

Our team was connected to NMDP by a girl named Sonya. Sonya is the chapter president for NMDP at Macalester and she is also a SMA (Student Medical Assistant) that works with the football team. She reached out to our coach giving us the opportunity to be involved and help with this awesome program.

In the image above you can see the Macalester football team and myself all together with signs and fliers for information on NMDP. Between two days guys on the team volunteered 6 hours going around campus informing people about NMDP, and encouraging them to join the registry. We had an incredibly successful time doing this getting 146 students and professors to join. If reading this gives you inspiration I’ll attach the link to NMDP’s site here. On there is a bunch of information on them, aswell if you wanted to join the registry its super easy, just a swab of the inside of the cheek and mailing it in.

Battle Born 90 minute Challenge

This was an idea from our head coach as a fundraiser for NMDP. As a team we wanted to give back to the community some way and what better way than to have a 5k on campus. The event was super fun and it was a little different than your traditional 5k. The goal was to try and make it something that was acheivable by everyone, so our tweak was that we had 1 loop that was 1.03 miles and people left from the start every 30 minutes. This made it so there was a larger focus on everyone completing it together and have it appear as more attainable by having it broken into chunks.

Here is a picture of Sonya and I with a few of her friends. The beanie over hood combo was necessary because I wasn’t participating in the 5k, my role was to direct traffic so everyone stayed on the correct route. As well the event was 6:15-7:45 am so it wasn’t super warm!

Why was it Battle Born?

Below is a picture of some of my teammates walking with a 265lbs tire on their shoulders. This was our coaches idea of making it “Battle Born”. The guys did great though, while rotating shifts they held the tire in the air for the full 5k distance and probably 75 minutes of total time.

Overall being able to dedicate time to support NMDP was an incredibly rewarding opportunity. Working alongside my team and knowing that our efforts are making a tangible impact has been truly fulfilling. It’s exciting to see the impact our team can have in making a difference in the community. I look forward to the Macalester football teams involvement and contributions to the mission of NMDP.”